


HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON'T

by shatterheart



Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Borderlands 3
Genre: Fear of Abandonment, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Katagawa Backstory, M/M, Mental Instability, Obsessive Behavior, Obsessive Love, POV Katagawa Jr, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sexual Content, Stranded on Pandora, Under-negotiated Kink, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, Unreliable Narrator, Unsafe Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:01:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21890869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shatterheart/pseuds/shatterheart
Summary: Recently promoted to Executive and making a secret deal with the Calypso Twins to have his bothersome siblings killed, all of Katagawa Jr’s carefully laid plans are finally coming to fruition. He even manages to capture the object of his obsession, Atlas CEO Rhys Strongfork, to discuss the company merger that will finally land him in his father’s favour.That is, until his personal ship is blown straight out of the sky, sending both men into a crash landing down to Pandora.Stranded from any outside contact, Katagawa must contend with betrayal, filthy bandits, monstrous pandoran creatures, and most of all, his ever-growing infatuation with Rhys, all the while trying to find a way back to Maliwan to finish what he started.
Relationships: Katagawa Jr./Rhys (Borderlands)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 140





	1. Carefully Laid Plans

**Author's Note:**

> We didn't get enough Katagawa Jr backstory, so here I am with my headcanons lol. This takes place before where we begin on Borderlands 3, and will ignore some canon events as the story goes on.

It had taken months of careful planning and a _lot_ of money, but Katagawa realized now was the best time to strike. It was probably his best chance to get to meet Rhys in person. 

“Yes, he’s supposed to be returning from his meeting with Jakobs late this evening. I want you to grab him then. You have a very short window between his arrival and when he’ll probably meet with that Zer0 character,” Katagawa said, in an ECHO transmission with his best Atlas spy. 

“Message me the second you have him ready for transfer to my personal ship.” He said, leaning back in his office chair. 

Now he only had to wait for his spy to deliver Rhys to his guards and they could finally meet face to face. Rhys would have no excuse to keep ignoring his calls when Katagawa stood right across from him in this very room.

Katagawa let out a pleased sigh, opening the photo of Rhys he had stored on his personal ECHO device. Soon he would be able to record some of his own instead of relying on the ECHOnet photos _anyone_ could look up. Katagawa was not anyone. And what he wanted, he got. 

Katagawa stood, walking up to the mini bar in his office for a celebratory drink but was interrupted by another call.

He stood straighter as he realized it was coming from the private line he had set up for contact with the twins Tyreen and Troy Calypso. He double checked the doors were locked and enabled the privacy screen on his office windows before heading back to his desk and accepting the call. 

He had to be very careful when talking to the twins less someone overheard he was secretly dealing with _bandits_. 

Katagawa took a seat as their faces filled the screen on his desk. He put on a charming smile. 

“Tyreen and Troy,” he greeted amicably. 

“Thought you’d _never_ pick up, Katagawa!” said Tyreen, grinning wildly. Behind her stood the hulking form of her sibling, barely able to fit into the frame he was so tall, though he said nothing in greeting. In the short time Katagawa had known them, he realized that Tyreen took the lead in most matters.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” 

“Of course not,” Katagawa drawled, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He found her voice grating.

“I take it you had some time to think over the offer I made you, last we spoke?” 

“Bingo!” Troy cackled, “We decided we can help you with your little...sibling problem. Or should I say, _big_ sibling problem, am I right, Junior? We should do it soon. Ty’s getting _hungry_ again.” 

Katagawa barely stopped himself from frowning and forced himself to keep a pleasant expression. He hated when people called him Junior, but he held his tongue. He still needed these two imbeciles for the time being.

“That’s excellent news.” Katagawa began, leaning forward in his seat.

“I have a plan for how. I’m throwing a massive party on the Zanara next week. You both will come as my...guests of honour. I promise a full buffet for you, Tyreen, as my whole family will be there. Let me show you how well we treat our guests here at Maliwan.” 

“Woo boy, the _whole_ family? You’re stone cold, aren’t you?” Tyreen laughed, eyes lighting up with excitement.

“It just so happens we _love_ parties.” 

“We can livestream this, right?” Troy added. 

“Imagine the amount of views we’ll get for this. Oh man, Ty, I can see the vid title now!! _Maliwan_ _Pleasure_ _Party on the Zanara Gone WRONG!_ _Hashtag-Not-Clickbait_!

“Or gone very _right_ , if you ask me!” Tyreen laughed.

“Our fans are gonna _eat_ this up.” 

Katagawa held back a sigh. “Yes, you can... _livestream_ it, or whatever it is you two do on the ECHOnet. Just make sure you get all of them. I don’t want any of them left to contest with after this.” 

“Don’t you worry your perfectly coiffed head about that!” Tyreen smirked. “I never leave leftovers.” 

“It’s a deal, then. I’ll ECHO you the details. Don’t be late.” Katagawa admonished. “And for the love of god, wear something _nice._ ” 

“Awwwww, you don’t like my outfit, Junior?” Troy cackled. 

“I’ll see you two next week.” Katagawa said sharply. He ended the call with a barely concealed roll of his eyes.

“I can’t wait to have these two imbeciles killed once they serve their purpose,” Katagawa growled to himself as he headed back to the mini-bar, “Disgusting bandit scum.” 

* * *

“Mr. Katagawa Jr,” his secretary said, some time later after Katagawa had finished his drink. 

“Your brother is asking after you, sir.” 

Katagawa groaned in irritation, turning back to his desk. 

“Is it Hiroki _again_? Tell him to fuck off and just hire a new secretary then if he’s angry about the incident with the last one.”

“Uh...no, sir.” She said dryly.

“Who was it actually, then, and what did he want?” Katagawa asked, furrowing his brow. 

“It was Kaito. And he didn’t specify much. Just that your father needs to see you and the rest of your brothers and sisters. Should I tell him you’ll come to his office as soon as possible?” 

“Yes, if there’s news from father, tell him I’ll be there.” Katagawa replied.

“I will clear your schedule.” She said, ending the call. 

Kaito was the eldest and he frequently got news from their father directly.

It had given the man an entirely too big ego, in Katagawa’s opinion, and he frequently turned the passing of information into a big power trip. He couldn’t wait to watch Kaito’s smug face drain of life once Tyreen got to him. 

* * *

Katagawa walked down the hallway to his father’s office, only to find that he wasn’t even there yet. Instead he found the rest of his siblings sprawled in the seating area outside the office. Typical of him to make them all wait so he could make his grand entrance.

“Get lost on the way, _Junior_?” Yuko asked, smirking at him from her spot closest to the door. 

She didn’t even look up, simply going back to painting her long nails a vibrant red, which clashed terribly with the Maliwan-orange of her pencil skirt in Katagawa’s opinion.

“I know better than to be early for one of these meetings, Yuko. Guess it’s not too busy for you in the design department lately? Considering your concepts never get chosen for any of the guns,” Katagawa teased, sidestepping to dodge the nail file she hurled at him before taking the open chair left next to Hiroki. 

He leaned back casually crossing his legs at the ankle, smirking at the disgruntled expression on his older brother’s face. 

“Your new secretary has a tattoo on his left hip bone, by the way, brother.” Katagawa said, smirking as he waited for the inevitable explosion.

“Again!? You fucking brat!” Hiroki shouted. 

“If I have to fire one more secretary because you won’t stop sleeping with them, I swear I’ll wring your skinny little neck in your sleep!” 

“Stop withholding the intel from last month’s R&D meeting then and I’ll stop having to fuck the information out of all your secretaries,” Katagawa said flippantly, amused at how his brother’s face was slowly turning red with fury.

“You are disgusting, Junior, he’s nearly double your age.” Hiroki spat.

“Not my fault you’re bitter _I_ made Executive so young and you had to wait till you were nearly forty, brother. Though, I get it, not everyone has the talent I do.” Katagawa bragged.

“Oh, get over it, Hiroki,” Naoko cut in from across the room.

“We all know _you_ slept with Issako’s wife last month during that party our little brother held on the Zanara last month, so you’re the one to talk.” 

“What? _I_ didn’t know that!” Issako shouted.

“Oh, my mistake! Well, now we _all_ know.” Naoko snickered, grinning from ear to ear as she sat back to watch the chaos she had just caused.

“Poor brother,” Kyo snickered from across the room, “Can’t get it up enough already to satisfy your own wife, Issako? You know Hyperion makes pills for that, right?” 

“Oh, what do you two even know about marriage?” Issako shouted. 

“Naoko’s probably going to die a lonely old spinster, and you’re on your third marriage, Kyo! You’re pathetic, all of you!” 

“Hey, fuck you too! Shouldn’t you be angry at the asshole who slept with your wife, instead of us?” Naoko shouted, just as Kaito finally entered the room.

“You _all_ should be ashamed of yourselves for sitting here squabbling like school children. What would father say if he saw you all like this?” Kaito said sternly, turning his nose up at them all. 

Katagawa stiffened as his brother passed behind him to walk to his seat. He watched warily as the shock-collared skag that followed his sibling everywhere passed by and lay at his brother’s feet. For some reason Kaito preferred the real thing instead of the robotic versions Maliwan had come out with recently.

“I hate that ugly creature,” Sana mumbled under her breath.

Katagawa silently agreed with his sister. He felt vaguely nauseous even looking at the _thing_ , the memories of it terrorizing him as a child coming to the forefront of his mind. He _hated_ his oldest brother and his filthy skag. 

“Now that you’re all here,” Katagawa began, sensing his opportunity.

He put on an innocent expression, one that he knew often worked particularly well on his oldest siblings who still viewed him as merely a child who liked to show off. Katagawa didn’t like it, but he learned how to take advantage of their underestimation of him over the years.

“I’m having another party on the Zanara next weekend. You’re all invited, of course. Think of it as me making up for what happened last time. I’ll take care of everything. All you have to do is show up, and have fun.” 

“You better be paying for my new secretary’s training too.” Hiroki grumbled. 

They all talked a big game, but Katagawa knew they’d be there. None of his siblings could resist a party _he’d_ planned. He resisted the urge to smirk deviously. It would be their downfall.

He didn’t have time to think on it too long, as their father took this time to make his entrance. 

Katagawa watched all his siblings sit straighter as they noticed the older man’s arrival and found himself doing the same. 

“Be silent, all of you.” Katagawa Sr. said, voice deep and booming as he demanded control of the room.

The room suddenly became silent and the air tense as he passed slowly behind each of them, one at a time. 

Katagawa watched as Yui turned white with nerves, twitching subtly, the nervous little thing she was. He wondered if she’d pass out again.

As their father finally passed behind him, he paused for a moment, as if examining his youngest for any defects. Katagawa stared straight ahead at the wall in front of him, his back ramrod straight.

The barcode tattoo on the back of Katagawa’s neck felt like it was burning under the intensity of his father’s gaze the longer it went on. It was a stark reminder of his place here, and he hated it. Katagawa held his breath, careful not to fidget as his heart pounded from a sickening mixture of humiliation and the need to pass his father’s inspection. He always hated this part most. 

“I would like a report on all of your progress within the company. I hope none of you have been _slacking_. I’m sure none of you would want to be the one let down the family. Kaito, you’re first.” Their father said finally, moving out from behind Katagawa and entering his office without another word. 

Katagawa let the breath he had been holding out as his father and smug looking older brother left the waiting room. 

He frowned, leaning back in his chair to get comfortable. As the youngest, he’d be out here a while waiting his turn. Watching all his other siblings get to go in before him wounded his pride every time. 

* * *

Katagawa left the office fuming a long while later, though he didn’t show his frustration until the door had shut behind him. 

He couldn’t fucking believe it. All of Katagawa’s hard work and dedication to Maliwan since the day he was born and his father still had the audacity to remind him he was still _twelfth_ in line to inherit the CEO position. 

Had he not been the youngest of all his siblings to make Executive? Given his father’s namesake? He rose through the ranks far faster than any of them! He’d even been given the responsibility to absorb Atlas and now that he practically had it in the bag, his father _still_ deemed him last in line? 

He soothed himself with the thought of how they would all beg and cry for his help as Tyreen Calypso sucked their very life force from their bodies. Soon he’d be the only one waiting outside his father’s office. And even sooner, he’d have Rhys at his side. Everything was going according to his plan. He just had to wait a little longer.

Until then, Katagawa seethed. He stormed through the hallways back to the loading bay, punching in the fast travel station’s coordinates to the Zanara as his heart pounded in his chest, fury and anxiety warring inside of him making him feel like he was about to vibrate out of his own skin. He had to vent some of this frustration or he’d be tempted to slam his fist into a wall. 

* * *

Katagawa made a beeline for his favourite bar aboard the Zanara some time later, only to see that Naoko had apparently had the same idea. His older sister was sitting at the bar, several cocktail glasses already drained next to her as she nursed another vivid green drink.

He grinned, coming up against the bar and gesturing the bartender who waited to serve him. 

“Surprise me.” he purred, tapping a black gloved finger on the bar. 

He slid out of his suit jacket and set it on the bar as he waited, revealing the neatly pressed green dress shirt and suspenders beneath. He knew he looked good tonight, now it was just a matter of seeing his prospects. 

The bartender slid a glass of something glowing bright orange across the counter and Katagawa immediately tossed it back, shivering at the way it burned all the way down his throat.

“Keep those coming,” he demanded, eyes already roaming the room for his next _distraction_. He still had plenty of time before his spy was supposed to get back to him about Rhys and he planned to make the best of it. He felt a little jolt of excitement at how close he was to seeing the object of his fixation. None of these men would compare, of course, but Katagawa knew how to distract himself. 

He grinned teasingly at a blond man at a table for two across the room. The man seemed to be having trouble focusing on his date and was leering at Katagawa instead.

 _He’d do_ , Katagawa thought, as he nursed another drink and leaned forward against the bar, making sure to display the long line of his slim waist, the round curve of his behind in his tailored slacks. Married men were so _easy_ , Katagawa knew. He smirked into the rim of his glass.

“Guess it didn’t go well with father then?” Naoko snarked. 

“Considering you ran straight here and are already making _fuck me_ eyes at the nearest older man who even looks your way. Your little obsession is showing again! Though I’m sorry to say you won’t find anyone from _Atlas_ in this bar.” 

“Be quiet, sister. Considering you’re out here drinking your body’s weight in alcohol alone like usual, I bet it didn’t go too well for you either. At least _I’m_ going to have fun tonight,” Katagawa hissed, already dismissing their conversation to watch from the corner of his eye, amused as the man made some poor excuses to his irritated partner to approach Katagawa at the bar. 

It wasn’t Katagawa’s problem if the guy didn’t know how to be subtle as long as he could give him what he wanted. He drained his last shot and turned slowly to look the older man up and down. 

“Katagawa Jr, right? My name’s Richard. Can I buy you another drink?”

“I’ll do you one better, Richard. I have a private room with a fully stocked bar,” Katagawa purred.

“How’d you like to come see it?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Katagawa gets laid lol.
> 
> also: Rhys!


	2. Crash Landing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katagawa gets some. Rhys and Katagawa meet for the first time. It doesn't go as planned (Pandora still sucks).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> detailed warnings for this chapter: 
> 
> explicit sexual content, drug use, under-negotiated/unsafe kink play (brief choking) between Katagawa and his partner from the bar, unprotected sex, Katagawa being an obsessive creep in general though I imagine that last one is a blanket statement for the entire fic

“ _Fuck_ , you’re so tight!” groaned Robert? Ryan? 

Katagawa couldn’t even remember the man’s name, if he was being honest. The blond man’s hands slid to Katagawa’s slim waist, gripping tight enough to bruise as Katagawa bounced in the man’s lap clad in only his green dress shirt. His black slacks, tie and suspenders were tossed somewhere off to the side in his rush to sit on the older man’s dick after hasty preparation with his fingers and a packet or two of company branded slick kindly dispensed by one of the pleasure spheres floating in the corner. 

“I didn’t say you could touch me,” Katagawa purred loudly enough to be heard over the club music that could still be heard from the rest of the party-goers outside. He slowed the rhythmic rolling of his slender hips atop the older man’s erection, smirking down at him teasingly.

“In fact, why don’t you put your hands above your head and keep them there? You touch me again... and I’ll go find someone else’s cock to satisfy me. I’m sure you’re not the only one who wanted to fuck me tonight.” 

“Shit, ok, just don’t s-stop!” The man babbled, hands darting up to do as Katagawa demanded, pupils dilated from the Maliwan-patented sensation enhancing drugs they had both ingested before they had moved to the bed. 

“Now there’s a good boy,” Katagawa praised the man’s easy compliance, looking down at him from beneath his eyelashes as he resumed the slow circling of his hips atop the older man’s pelvis. 

He gasped as the fat head of the older man’s cock pressed against his prostate once more. Without the distracting feeling of two flesh hands upon his waist, it was easy then to let his eyes drift shut and imagine he was somewhere else, with a brunet instead of a blond, as he writhed atop the older man’s throbbing length. It was a fantasy he found himself defaulting to in bed ever since he had first seen Rhys, made easier by his own vivid imagination and a cocktail of drugs stolen from the biochemistry department.

“A-Ah, fuck me! _Rhys…_ ” Katagawa whined. 

“What? Who’s Rhys? My name’s Richard...” The man below him gasped, abruptly pulling Katagawa from his fantasy.

“I didn’t ask you to speak, did I? I’ll call you whatever I please.” Katagawa snapped, a gloved hand darting down to wrap around the older man’s throat.

The older man’s cock pulsed within him as Katagawa’s long fingers deprived him of air.

“Fuck, _yeah_ …” the blond man groaned, his hips quivering under the Katagawa’s weight as he begged with watery eyes, pupils blown so much that his blue eyes were nearly black. 

Katagawa loosened his grip, shivering at the dark thrill he felt watching the man gasping to regain his breath. He own cock throbbed where it was pressed against the expensive fabric of his dress shirt. 

“That’s better,” Katagawa breathed.

He let his eyes fall shut again, the tight clutch of his hole squeezing around the hard cock inside of him as he imagined it was Rhys’s instead. He gasped, reaching down to stroke his own swollen erection in time with the undulation of his hips.

How would Rhys look below him like this, Katagawa’s hands wrapped around his throat as he begged for air as Katagawa shoved into his tight body? Or would Rhys get tired of that, and take control, flipping them and pounding into Katagawa from behind as punishment for the rough treatment? Maybe he’d push Katagawa to his knees and shove his cock down his throat, metal hand gripped tight on the back of Katagawa’s head. 

Katagawa whined at _that_ thought, letting go of his cock to slide a couple of fingers into his own mouth to suck on, the sensation greatly enhanced thanks to the drugs. He imagined the older man’s moans below him were Rhys’s, his whole body over sensitive and warm. 

He whimpered loudly, the sound partially muffled behind his gloved fingers as he used the cock below him to fuel his own pleasure. He started to bounce more frantically, the thought of Rhys in bed with him combined with the hard cock pressing hard into his prostate bringing him closer and closer to orgasm. 

Suddenly, a message pinged onto the interface of Katagawa’s ECHOeye and he struggled to make out the words that appeared in the corner of his vision through the haze the drugs and rapidly approaching orgasm.

The message from his guards simply read: _Rhys will be delivered @ office in 2 hrs. Awaiting your orders._

The sudden onslaught of pleasure he felt realizing Rhys would soon be in his office at his whim made the text blur.

“ _Rhys!_ ” He shouted as his insides squeezed the cock inside of him like a vice and he came in warm, wet pulses onto the man’s chest and belly. He panted, squeezing his eyes shut, fucking himself through the aftershocks with quivering thighs. 

He hardly noticed the other man reach his own peak, mind already elsewhere as he began to plan what he’d do once he met with _Rhys_. 

Moments later, Katagawa scrambled for his personal ECHOpad discarded on the end table in their earlier rush to undress and began to compose his own message as soon as the pleasure began to subside. 

_**I’ll be there in an hour. Make sure he’s compliant**_ _ **.**_ He tapped out on the screen before sending the message, lifting off of the blond man's cock and wincing at the slow drip of excess lube and come that slid down his leg as they separated. 

He briskly wiped the worst of it off with the corner of the bedsheet. Fuck, he needed a shower and to sober up fast. 

“S-Shit, Katagawa, that was—“ the nameless blond man stuttered, looking completely wrecked on the bed.

“Yes I know, the pleasure sphere over there can help you clean up, then let yourself out,” Katagawa said dismissively, already heading towards the room’s ensuite bathroom on shaky legs. 

“I have somewhere very important to be.” 

* * *

“Get off of me!” Rhys growled, struggling against Katagawa’s guards holding him on either side. The guard on the left shoved the butt of their gun into Rhys’ lower back pointedly until he stilled. 

“Rhys, buddy! Now that I have you all to myself, we can finally talk face to face about that Maliwan-Atlas merger.” Katagawa purred. 

He looked every bit the spoiled son as he leaned forward, clasping both hands in front of himself elegantly as he eyed Rhys. His mismatched eyes traced every inch of the man in front of him heatedly. 

All the photos, the magazine covers, posters, and news articles he had managed to order off the ECHOnet really didn’t do the older man justice compared to seeing him here in the flesh. Katagawa struggled to maintain his composure as his heart began to pound in his chest excitedly. This was _Rhys_ in front of him right now.

“There’s nothing to talk about, _Katagawa..._ ” Rhys sighed, glaring up at the other man with exasperation. 

“Just because you somehow got lucky enough to bring me onto your ship, doesn’t mean the answer is suddenly going to change. I was ignoring your messages for a reason, you know. Besides the fact that I’m like, super busy. You know, _running an entire company_!” 

“Oh, give it some time, buddy.” Katagawa drawled, his ECHOeye glowing Maliwan-orange as as his guards brought Rhys closer to him. 

He wanted to record this moment for posterity. He’d waited so long...to finally get to see the Atlas CEO in person was everything he had hoped for and more. He wanted to be able to replay it again and again later, the thought filling him with warmth. He couldn’t help the wide grin pulling at the corner of his lips.

He stood, crossing the short distance from his desk to his captive and reached forward to cup the older man’s chin in his gloved hand. He couldn’t help but run his thumb through the coarse brown hair of Rhys’s moustache reverently. So _this_ was the fabled moustache. He couldn’t feel it through the leather of his gloves, but he hoped it was as nice as it looked.

“Maybe you don’t know it yet Rhys, but soon you’ll find I _always_ get what I want. All you have to do is sign a simple dotted line and let me take care of the rest.” Katagawa purred.

“Not a chance. I’m not giving _my_ company up to some spoiled little Maliwan peacock like you,” Rhys said as he tugged his chin from the younger man’s grasp, two spots of red high on his cheeks.

“Look, Katagawa, I’ll give you points for trying and actually managing to get me here...pretty good attention to detail to get me with that spy. But it’s not like no one’s going to notice I’m gone. I’m sure my pal Zer0 is on the way to get me right now. And I don’t think you want to be on the wrong end of their sword, kid.” 

Katagawa’s brow furrowed in indignation at Rhys’s belittling tone. 

“First of all, I’m _not_ a kid,” he began, only to be interrupted by the doors to his office slamming open as a panicked employee ran inside. 

“Sir!” they shouted, “there’s something wrong with the ship! We’re going to crash!” 

“What?” Katagawa barked. 

“What the hell are you doing in here then, you imbecile, can’t we avoid it?”

“It’s too late! There is something wrong with the navigation system and we can’t override it! We can’t avoid it, you need to get down!” the employee shouted, as the ship began to shake dangerously and everyone in the room pitched to the side.

Rhys took advantage of the commotion to shake free of the surprised guard’s slackened grip and ducked to the floor as the ship began to go topside. 

It all happened very quickly after that. 

“Rhys!” Katagawa shouted, darting forward for the older man just as something impacted the side of the ship and he was slammed back into the wall behind him hard enough for his vision to blur. He wheezed as all the air left his lungs in a mad rush.

He scrambled for purchase to the side of the wall as his stomach dropped from the rapid change in altitude. They were _falling._

Katagawa could barely make out the sound of Rhys’s voice over the piercing shriek of his ship’s emergency alarm systems, his ears popping with the change in altitude. He couldn’t understand the other man’s words over the panicked screaming he heard as he watched one of his guards get rapidly crushed by falling debris.

Katagawa yelped as his body began to slide across the window as the pressure increased and the ship began to plummet. His ears were ringing, his heart pounding. He couldn’t seem to get his limbs to work fast enough. Was he going to die here? He couldn’t die here, not when he was so close to achieving his goals!

The last thing he felt was an iron grip on his shoulder before something heavy slammed into him and everything went black.

* * *

The first thing Katagawa noticed when he next regained consciousness was how warm he was. Then, that his head was absolutely throbbing as if he had just spent the night before on another bender aboard the Zanara. Where was he?

“W-Where”? He groaned, trying to move only to suddenly realize he was pinned under something heavy. His eyes widened as he realized the thing pinning him down was _Rhys’s_ limp body.

He sat up in a panic, struggling to shift himself out from under the older man’s weight and looking down at the Atlas CEO’s unconscious form with wide eyes. 

“Rhys?” he gasped, as he went to roll Rhys over carefully. He ignored the throbbing soreness of his own body to lean over the other man and press his ear to Rhys’s chest. He exhaled in relief as he heard the steady pound of the older man’s heartbeat. Rhys was still alive. 

“Fuck!” he growled, sitting up to look more carefully at Rhys. He was breathing, but his clothes were dirty and there were several cuts and bruises all over his face and exposed skin. The worst looked to be the cut on the side of Rhys’s temple. A piece of loose debris must’ve damaged the older man’s ECHOeye port. Katagawa watched a trail of blood slowly drip from it and disappear into his auburn hair. 

“Rhys!” Katagawa cried.

 _Wake up wake up wake up Rhys Rhys Rhys_ echoed in his panicked mind as he reached over to shake Rhys awake roughly. 

“Ughhh!” Rhys groaned after a couple of harsh shakes, reaching up to push Katagawa off with his cybernetic arm. 

“G-Get off…” he said.

Katagawa leaned back, instantly feeling much less panicked as he realized the older man was awake with him. He watched as Rhys slowly opened his eyes, noting how his cybernetic eye didn’t dilate fully, the blue much duller than usual. Definitely damaged, then. 

Katagawa blinked, testing his own ECHOeye and sighing in relief when he noticed it still seemed to be more functional than Rhys’s was at least. There were several error messages building up on the side of the interface, but he dismissed them to focus on the man in front of him. 

“My ECHOeye’s busted...” Rhys groaned, squinting at Katagawa as he managed to stumble to his feet. He reached up to touch the port on the side of his forehead, wincing when his fingers came away sticky with blood. 

“Great. Where did we crash? Or do you Maliwan peacocks spend so much time partying that you haven’t developed location tracking yet?” Rhys said.

“Of course we have tracking technology,” Katagawa said darkly as he tried to access the Maliwan network, dark brows furrowed in confusion when the interface flashed red as the GPS connection attempt failed. He dug into his pocket, only to see his ECHOpad had been cracked to hell. He growled, tossing the broken pieces onto the sand.

“I can’t seem to get a connection through. My ECHO device is broken...”

Katagawa stood, hissing as all the bruises and cuts on his body made themselves known now that the adrenaline rush from worrying if Rhys was alive or not started to fade. 

He looked down at his ruined suit, brushing himself off with a grimace and looking around. All he could see was the debris of the crash in the distance and lots of sand. 

Rhys came up beside him, shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight and groaning. “Pandora, I think. Unfortunately I’d remember this horrible sun anywhere.” he groaned. 

“Well, I guess we should be happy we even survived that. Though I wouldn’t have even been in your ship if you hadn’t kidnapped me just to talk about a merger.”

“I wasn’t exactly planning on us taking a dive straight into dirty bandit hell, if that’s what you were implying, Rhys. Besides, you must like me a little bit. I know you tried to protect me with your body. I woke up under you.” Katagawa said smugly.

“You wish,” Rhys snarked, “Just because I have enough human decency left to not let someone die right in front of me if I can help it, doesn’t mean I’m not annoyed at you, Maliwan.” 

“Whatever you say, buddy.” Katagawa smirked, brushing more sand from his suit jacket and facing the wreckage of his ship. 

“In any case, we should go search the debris. Maybe I can contact reinforcements from there.” 

“Fine by me,” Rhys sighed, “Maybe _I_ can contact _Atlas_ to come save me,” 

* * *

The wreckage was not going to be much help, they soon discovered. Katagawa wrinkled his nose in disgust as he saw the corpses of his personal guards strewn about whatever was left of his office.

This was his favourite ship, minus the Zanara, of course. It was the first ship of his own he had gotten after his promotion to head of Mergers and Acquisitions. 

Seeing it in this state was disheartening to say the least. A replacement would not be cheap. He did not look forward to _that_ conversation with his father. 

He approached the remains his tipped over desk, trying to pull open one of the drawers. It creaked open, spilling office supplies and the shattered pieces of his spare echo device all over the hot Pandoran sand. He growled in frustration, slamming it shut again and turning to look at Rhys. 

Rhys was kneeling over one of his guards, checking for a pulse. 

“They’re gone,” he said, closing the dead man’s eyes.

“Yes, I figured,” Katagawa replied, walking over.

“You could sound at least a little upset about it,” Rhys said, standing up to look at the younger man. “They’re your people, aren’t they?” 

“What, you want to say a few words or something, buddy? I had no idea you were so _sentimental_ , Rhys. They served their purpose and now they’re dead. No use crying over them. They’re easily replaceable once I get back to Maliwan.” Katagawa sneered, turning away to check another piece of wreckage. 

“Wow. Almost forgot I was trapped on Pandora with someone so heartless for a second.” Rhys groaned, following him to the wreckage. “Find anything?” 

“Looks like this is only part of the ship,” Katagawa said, looking around at the various debris strewn around the sand. 

“My office part...so there should be at least some spare health hypos for when I come straight here from the Zanara somewhere…” 

“Only you would waste an expensive hypo on a hangover, Katagawa.” Rhys sighed, approaching what looked to be a broken cabinet and slowly prying the door open with his cybernetic hand. 

“Oh, don’t pretend you haven’t done it,” Katagawa argued as he used his hands to brush sand off of a small black box, tugging it open to reveal two health kits. 

“Besides,” he said, holding them up to the older man triumphantly, “It’s helping us now, isn’t it?” 

“Give it here,” Rhys said, “My head feels like it’s gonna explode...more than it usually does when I have to listen to you talk.” 

“I thought you didn’t listen to my messages? And I don’t have to share these with you, buddy.” 

Katagawa smirked, “Especially not if you’re going to treat me like that. Say please.” 

“ _Please_ give it to me before I regret saving your life earlier.” Rhys sighed. 

“That’s more like it. Here, catch.” Katagawa said, tossing the med kit his way. He was planning on giving it to the older man anyways, but he didn't mind listening to Rhys say please to him. 

Katagawa watched as Rhys uncapped one of the healing hypos and jabbed it into his flesh arm with a wince. He shuddered as the glowing red serum started to do its work, the pained furrow in his brow easing slightly. 

“Won’t fix the components of my ECHOeye...but at least I can hear myself think now.” Rhys said. 

“C’mon, your turn, Katagawa. You look like you just got dive-bombed by an angry rakk or something.” 

“I don’t look that bad,” Katagawa argued. 

“I just got crushed under you. You weigh a little more than I expected from all the photos, Rhys.” 

Rhys rolled his eyes, tossing the med kit back towards him. “It’s all in the metal arm. And you know, the delicious bagels and frogurt.” 

Katagawa grabbed the hypo and snapped the top off before throwing back the liquid inside like it was a particularly nasty shot of alcohol. He winced at the bitter taste, throwing the empty vial to the sand roughly when he was finished. 

He looked at Rhys’s dumbfounded expression and rolled his eyes. “I hate needles.” Katagawa explained, wiping his mouth off on his sleeve. His suit was ruined anyways. He closed his eyes at the unnatural warmth he felt as the serum slowly healed his bruises and minor cuts. Rhys has really taken the worst of the damage, fortunately. 

“In any case,” Katagawa said, “My spare echo was broken, so looks like we won’t be using that to call for help either.” 

“Shit,” Rhys said, looking around. “I don’t think we’re gonna find much else here. We should probably start searching for some shelter before whoever or whatever blew your ship out of the sky realizes they didn’t manage to kill us.” 

“Fine by me, Rhys.” Katagawa agreed as he approached one of the fallen guards. He reached down and grabbed their discarded sword, giving it a swing to make sure was still balanced. He smirked as the steel shone in the bright Pandoran sun. It had been a while since he last got to use a sword and he had missed it. He would’ve preferred one from his personal collection, but they were back on display in his room on the Zanara. 

“Better grab a weapon...in case we run into any filthy bandits or whatever other godforsaken creatures live down here.”

“Great,” Rhys teased, reaching for the pistol that was strapped to the dead guard’s thigh and tugging it and the holster free carefully before adjusting it to fit his own longer legs. “My last hope is a _Maliwan_ gun. I’m really doomed.”

“You should be grateful, Atlas.” Katagawa smirked, “That’s the latest model. It’s got _three_ elemental modes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBH it's so hard not to laugh to myself when I have to describe Rhys's moustache
> 
> Thank you to everyone for reading and kudos/commenting so far!
> 
> Next chapter: Rhys and Katagawa find shelter, bicker like a married couple, and brainstorm a way to help themselves off Pandora


	3. ECHOEYE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and Katagawa come up with a plan. There's a lot of bickering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's been reading, commenting and leaving me kudos! :D

The sun, Katagawa came to realize after an hour or so of wandering the wastelands with Rhys, was way too strong on Pandora. And there was way too much sand. Katagawa supposed it was fortunate they hadn’t run into too much trouble yet.

There had been a few close calls with a couple of angry spiderants near the crash site, but Katagawa’s blade had made quick work of them. It was good Katagawa was well trained with a sword, because Rhys was absolutely abysmal with the gun. Katagawa would have to try and remedy that if he wanted to rely on Rhys to have his back here.

“I can’t tell if my boots are filled with more sand than feet at this point,” Rhys moaned as they stopped to take a break for the night in an old trailer they had found during their exploration, not too far out from the crash site. 

“Yes, it’s disgusting,” Katagawa agreed.

His dress shoes, while the latest fashion, were not the best for walking in a wasteland on Pandora. Rhys’s skag skin boots hadn’t faired much better. Katagawa stepped forward and sliced the rusted lock with the blade of sword. The door screeched open easily after that. 

Rhys followed him inside, both of them relieved as they realized the place was empty, whoever had lived here gone. 

“At least we found this place.” Rhys said, as he walked over to the dirty mattress in the corner and sat down on it, tugging off his boots and dumping out the sand onto the floor. 

“I did not want to spend the night in the open desert. Been there done that, and let me tell you, _no_ thank you. ”

Katagawa grabbed a rusty crowbar off a rickety table, sliding it in between the door handle and the wall to block anyone from entering. He frowned, hoping it would be secure enough before setting his sword down and walking over to the decrepit fridge in the corner. 

The power seemed to still be on, somehow, though he was glad to still be wearing his black leather gloves as he touched the dirty handle to open it. 

“Please tell me there’s something to drink in there,” Rhys said as he shoved his colourfully-socked feet back into his boots. He got up and walked over, peaking over the younger man’s shoulder eagerly to see inside the fridge. 

Katagawa grabbed a jug and pried open the lid, bringing it to his face reluctantly. His ECHOeye glowed brightly as he attempted to scan the contents, only to frown when the remembered he wasn’t able to access the network to complete the scan. 

“It doesn’t _smell_ poisoned,” he said.

“Though honestly I’d be reluctant to put anything in this filthy place in my mouth.” 

Rhys reached around him and grabbed the jug, taking a sip. He took another few swallows before shoving it back into Katagawa’s hands. 

“It’s just water. You’ll probably survive, your highness.”

Katagawa turned to face him, any protest dying on his lips as he watched the older man brush a few stray drops of water from his moustache with his thumb. Katagawa could feel Rhys’s body radiating warmth from this close, and he looked up at him teasingly from beneath his eyelashes.

Rhys blinked, as if suddenly realizing how close they were, and took a quick step back. 

“Uh, anyways, we should probably try and save some of it for tomorrow.” 

“Yes...of course.” Katagawa said, relishing in the older man’s retreat. 

He found he liked getting under Rhys’s skin. Perhaps being stuck down here wouldn’t be so bad after all if he had more time to be around the object of his little... _fixation_. His sister had always said he got overly obsessed with things and Rhys was no exception. Maybe this was a good opportunity for him to sway Rhys into his favour. 

Rhys paced back to the cot, taking a seat. 

“Well, let’s see what I can do here,” Rhys said. 

Katagawa raised an eyebrow curiously, taking a couple of swallows from the jug before placing it on the table. 

“How so?” He asked.

Rhys lifted his cybernetic arm, twisting it this way and that. Katagawa watched as he tapped a panel on the forearm, pulling it back carefully to reveal a length a wire with a long metal prong on the end. 

“I’m gonna plug in and run some diagnostics on my ECHOeye. See if I can find out what’s wrong with it.” Rhys said, wincing as he stuck the long end into his neural port with a click. 

Katagawa watched curiously as the older man pulled up a holo-interface on his cybernetic palm, rapidly scrolling through option menus and lines of code. 

“Son of a bitch,” Rhys swore. “One of the communication microchips is totally fried. I won’t be able to get this working again until I have it replaced. Which, unfortunately means more surgery for me…” 

“Fuck. Well, can you do anything else without that?” Katagawa asked. 

Rhys suddenly turned to look over at him, mismatched eyes honing in on the neural port on the side of Katagawa’s temple. 

Katagawa followed his line of vision before realizing what the older man was looking at so intently. 

“Oh, absolutely _not_ , Rhys!” Katagawa growled, leaning back a little. 

“Oh, c’mon! I know you’re probably not gonna like this, but...you need to let me connect my arm to your neural port. If we have both my arm and your port, we don’t need an external ECHOpad to make an outgoing call!” Rhys implored. 

“Not a chance. I might not be a programmer like you are, but I do know I don’t want you digging around in my head.” Katagawa countered, crossing his arms stubbornly. “Think of another way!” 

“There _is_ no other fast way, Katagawa, stop pouting at me and listen for once! Unless you wanna spend time we don’t have searching the desert for some random communications station in the middle of this dangerous planet? I’ve been stranded down here before, and trust me, it’s really fucking dangerous!” Rhys argued, holding his hands up to placate the younger man.

“I just need to see why you can’t connect to the network. I won’t go looking around too deep in there. Trust me when I say Atlas really doesn’t need anything _Maliwan_ has.” 

“I resent that,” Katagawa retorted, narrowing his eyes. “Besides! How do I know this isn’t all some elaborate plot to control me or gain access to company code?” 

Rhys sighed, running a hand through his hair nervously.

“Look. I won’t go controlling your body or something...trust me, I know that’s a shitty thing to happen. Besides, I’ve never even done this to someone before, not that many people even have ECHOeyes, you know, so you’d be the first. It might not even work, but it’s our only shot.” Rhys said, eyes wide and imploring the younger man to listen to him. 

Katagawa sighed, eyeing the older man warily. He sounded sincere enough...and they had no other good ideas for getting off this planet. Besides, he couldn’t help but think that maybe this would let him get closer to Rhys. He would get to share something with the older man that no one else had ever done before. He couldn’t deny that held a lot of appeal. 

“Fine..” He said after a pause, “But any funny business…don’t make me regret trusting you, Rhys. And we are only using this to contact _Maliwan_. If I see you even trying to contact your little friends at Atlas, you can bet I’m finding a way to strand us both down here!” 

“Yeesh, talk about trust issues. You’re the one that kidnapped _me_ , remember? You owe me!” Rhys grumbled. 

Katagawa rolled his eyes, walking over and nudging Rhys over so they could both sit on the mattress. He held back a smirk at Rhys’ surprised yelp.

“Fine, let’s just do it! So, how does this work, then?” Katagawa asked, eyeing the long prong and wire protruding from the older man’s metal arm warily. 

“Thank you. Well, we just gotta plug this in up top. It might...not feel that great until I can get your personal firewall down. I mean, assuming Maliwan actually gave your implant a firewall?” Rhys teased, pulling up the programming interface on his hand. 

Katagawa stared at the projection suspiciously. 

“Of course they did!” he bit out, crossing his arms defensively and resolutely _not_ pouting at the older man. 

“Fine, then let me do this, okay?” Rhys huffed. 

“ _Fine_! Just get it over with, Rhys.” Katagawa acquiesced.

“Okay, good...now sit still and be quiet for once. Here, in 3, 2...” 

Rhys leaned in and plugged the end of the wire right into Katagawa’s port without waiting for _one_. 

Katagawa tensed all over as his body was suddenly subjected to a sharp pain shooting from his temple all the way down to his toes. 

“F-Fuck, take it out, that hurts!” Katagawa shrieked, trying to pull his head back only to be stopped by the hard surface of the wall behind him. He blinked rapidly, dizzy from the impact. 

“Shit, sorry, but I can’t!” Rhys babbled as he began frantically coding with his flesh hand, fingers dancing rapidly across the keyboard projected off his cybernetic palm. 

“Just hold on a bit longer while I get this firewall down and I promise it’ll _probably_ stop hurting! I should’ve guessed the neural programmers at Maliwan were big enough assholes to make foreign tech interfacing hurt this much.” 

“Rhys, I don’t care about the semantics, just hurry the fuck up!” Katagawa panted, squeezing his right eye shut in an effort to stop seeing the rapid onslaught of error warnings of _unauthorized user detected_ and _suggested action:_ _remove foreign technology_ that filled almost his entire field of vision. 

“I got this, I got this…” Rhys rambled, fingers frantic as parsed through paragraphs of code as quickly as he could. He furrowed his brow curiously as he noticed something strange within the text.

“Okay, uh, let me preface this by saying your programming department is really, really weird if this is what I think it is! But, I think I can make this hurt a _lot_ less if I just—there!” 

Suddenly the agony felt a lot less like terrible pain and a whole lot more like an overwhelming, pleasant _warmth_ pulsing through his body. 

Katagawa sighed in relief, contracted muscles going loose in the span of several seconds. He slumped, boneless, onto Rhys’s shoulder and moaned softly. 

“Wha’? R-Rhyssss!” Katagawa slurred, eyelids heavy. He barely noticed the new onslaught of error messages that had appeared. “Th’ fuck did you just do t’ me?” 

“There you go, okay, see, I just swapped some stuff around and now you’re getting some nice dopamine hits, courtesy of the _weirdos_ at Maliwan who designed your neural implant and made the only two options here excruciating pain or...uh, this? At least you don’t have to suffer now while I work on your firewall. Next time choose Atlas, we don’t do this weird crap, I promise...” Rhys rambled, letting out an uncomfortable laugh as his human fingers moved on the projected keyboard of his cybernetic palm interface. 

Katagawa blinked slowly, feeling as if his mind was enveloped in thick, syrupy molasses. It wasn’t as unbearable as the pain, but the sudden loss of control made him very uncomfortable. What if something bad happened and he couldn’t react fast enough? As much as he wanted to be closer to the older man, this was not what he had in mind.

He whined, leaning back up with one heavy hand to steady himself on Rhys’s shoulder. He felt warm and slow, but also _good_ , like he had just gone on another bender with a whole bottle of Maliwan fire whiskey mixed with the little orange pills his brother gave him sometimes.

“Hurry _up_ ,” he said, aiming for a growl that came out more as a strangled whimper in his current condition. 

Rhys looked up, eyes widening at the touch and sight of the younger man’s debauched state. 

“Oh uh, _wow_ , Maliwan,” he said, heat rising to his own cheeks. “You look…” 

“ _Rhysss_...” Katagawa groaned, shivering, “Get a move on…”

“Shit, right! I’m almost done…..let me just...oh, nice! I’m in!” Rhys cheered. 

Katagawa felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head as the _unauthorized user breach_ warnings finally went away. 

He sat up quickly, pulling back from Rhys’s shoulder as far as the wire connecting them would let him as his senses returned to him suddenly. He frowned and brushed his hair back, a little embarrassed about how he had just reacted.

He noticed the colour of the interface on his ECHOeye had changed from a blaring red to a calm green. _New_ _User: *RHY5-WINZ 3.0*_ _accepted_ , a notification read. _Personal_ _Firewall disabled._

“Rhys...Wins? Seriously, how old are you?” Katagawa grumbled, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh my god, Katagawa, like your little corporate stalker brain doesn’t already know my age.” Rhys quipped.

“You were literally drooling on my shoulder a minute ago, stop trying to play like you’re cooler than me. Gotta say, you’re sorta cute when you’re not acting like you’re better than everyone for once.” 

“I wasn’t drooling!” Katagawa shot back, feeling heat rise to his cheeks rapidly despite himself. 

Rhys just grinned back playfully. 

Katagawa bit his lip, changing the subject before he embarrassed himself any more in front of Rhys. 

“Well, you’re in _my_ systems then. Now what?” 

Rhys frowned as he poked around in the code. 

“Well besides the fact that this is going to take a little while to get used to...looks like you guys use a slightly different coding language than us….but yeah, your specific ECHO frequency is definitely being blocked by someone back at Maliwan. You’re technically still connected, but it’s why you can’t make and receive any calls or access your network right now.”

“What? _Blocked_?” Katagawa parroted dumbly, “Why the hell would I be blocked by my own people? I had no problem making calls earlier today. Could the crash really have done something like that?” 

“I don’t think so,” Rhys replied thoughtfully, “Your eye works fine otherwise, right?” 

Katagawa furrowed his brows, “Yes, I just…”

Rhys sighed, “Well, then someone clearly has it out for you up there, I mean. Can you think of anyone who doesn’t like you enough to do something like this?” 

Katagawa sighed, running a gloved hand through his hair. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought that one of his siblings could’ve found out about his little _plan_ with the Calypsos and tried to get the drop on him first. Rhys didn’t need to know about that, however. He needed to get back to Maliwan and find out what happened. 

“Well, I would say a corporate rival, maybe? But that’s obviously not the case as you’re sitting here with me. This won’t look good on whoever it was. My father would surely find out if I started missing meetings, or one of my eleven other siblings.” 

It was best not to mention to Rhys how it was probably Katagawa’s fault if one of his siblings had them both blown out of the sky. He needed the older man to trust him after all. 

Rhys’s eyebrows shot into his forehead, “Wait, did you just say _eleven_? Shit, the holidays must be really fun at your place.” 

“You have _no_ idea,” Katagawa said dryly. 

“I’m an only child so... I guess not. In any case, I think we should assume someone’s got it out for you, and I guess me now...we shouldn’t stay too long this close to the crash site. I mean, seems kinda like someone wanted you gone. First the ship randomly crashes, and now you’ve been blocked from the network? Seems like an inside job to me.” 

“Yes. If that seems to be the case, I need to contact my father. I’m sure he could figure out what happened. What can you do about this block, then?” Katagawa demanded.

“Well, I could try and hack it then contact my people at Atlas for help…I bet I could get Zer0 out here in a jiffy.” Rhys suggested.

“Absolutely not. No ninja assassin.” Katagawa said. 

“What, so I’m still your hostage or something? We’re literally in the middle of a shithole with no outside help. You’re going to have a really hard time enforcing that, Katagawa.” Rhys sighed, rolling his eyes. 

“You think I’m stupid enough to let you call that vault hunter here? They’d have my head for borrowing you. Besides, when we head back to _Maliwan_ together, you’ll have no choice but to agree to my merger,” Katagawa retorted. 

“Oh my god, seriously?” Rhys huffed. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, someone wants to kill you, and you’re _still_ concerned with that?” 

“You’re my...you’re my ticket to making CEO, Rhys, I won’t give you up that easily.” Katagawa insisted stubbornly.

“For fuck’s sake! You power-hungry brat,” Rhys growled. 

“Takes one to know one, Atlas!” Katagawa grinned. 

Rhys sighed, resigned. “Fine. For now, I will help you contact your people. But let me tell you, this isn’t gonna be finished in one night. I’m not used to Maliwan’s coding language, and it’s not like it’s as easy to take down a whole communications block as it was to get into your personal one.” 

“Oh come on, I thought you were supposed to be some programming whiz, Rhys?” Katagawa teased.

“Hey, I totally am!” Rhys defended. “But your guys at Maliwan made a total mess of this code...and not to mention our cybernetics aren’t exactly completely compatible. Despite what I said earlier, it’s not one size fits all. This would be faster if I had my own ECHOeye functioning…” 

“Sounds like a bunch of excuses, Rhys. There’s nothing wrong with Maliwan’s tech. It’s the best.” 

“Oh for fuck’s sake, that's just a lie, _buddy_. The way I see it, you need _me_ to get you into contact with your people.” Rhys snorted, grinning at the younger man’s disgruntled expression. 

“I don’t _need_ anyone. You’re going to do as I say. There’s a difference.” Katagawa denied stubbornly. 

“That’s not how this works. Did your father not make you learn how to negotiate, kid?” Rhys argued. 

“I help you, and you can help me. I’m not gonna help you only to end up back up on a Maliwan ship to listen to your blather on for eternity about some merger I’m never going to agree to. You need to offer me something too. Otherwise, we’re both just stuck here forever waiting for someone or something to come finish us off. I’d rather not wait around but I’m willing to bet more people are looking for me than for you, kid. I’m the CEO of a major corporation, in case you forgot!” 

The older man was just as stubborn, if not more, than he was, Katagawa was beginning to realize. It was infuriating. In his mind, Rhys would’ve been a more cooperative when Katagawa finally had him to himself.

As much as he dreaded the idea, he supposed he could attempt to get to a one of the Calypso’s camps and contact them for assistance, but that would also take time and be very dangerous. It would also be difficult to get Rhys there without revealing his little deal with them. He would have to cooperate with Rhys’s idea for now. 

They both glared at each other, at an impasse. 

“I will let you make _one_ call. But _after_ I make mine. Let’s say you do figure out how to get past the block. How long, then?” Katagawa relented. 

Katagawa wasn’t _actually_ planning on letting Rhys make that call. He would figure out a way to stop it from happening as long as he could get into contact with his father first. 

Rhys furrowed his brow, scrolling through his palm interface. “Couple of days, at the least. And that’s if we don’t starve to death first.” 

“We can’t stay in one place that long, like you said, we’re too close to the crash site. What if whoever’s after us comes and sees they didn’t finish the job?” Katagawa said impatiently. 

“Well, I can’t go any faster than that without my ECHOeye, so I gotta do it the old fashioned way. Unless you suddenly know how to hack, I’m deciding the pace. I’m exhausted. I’ll start making mistakes and we’ll be down here even longer, or worse, someone notices I’m hacking in. We should take a break for the night, then keep moving from the crash site in the morning. Not to mention, we need food.” 

“Fine, I guess you're right.” Katagawa relented. Rhys had a point. 

“We keep moving, then take breaks for you to keep working on this code. As for food...we’ll have to go catch something, I suppose. Let’s hope that old stove still works.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took some liberties about how ECHOeye implants work since we don't really get that much information about them in canon. I imagine they work like a more advanced version of a bluetooth headset for your phone, where you'd usually need an ECHOpad connected to have full function. Meanwhile, Rhys has both the arm and the ECHOeye, so he can make calls and such without an external device.
> 
> Also I just wanted to have some ECHOport fuckery let's be honest LOL ;)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's been reading so far!!


	4. Hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and Katagawa go hunting. It gets cold at night.

Hunting was a lot easier within in a controlled environment compared to this, Katagawa thought. He was used to family hunting trips his father had insisted they all go on as children, but now he was starting to realize the difference between trying to catch nearly domesticated versions of Pandoran wildlife on their summer home with a bunch of his siblings on one of the Eden’s as opposed to the real thing. 

These flying creatures had a much better instincts, and it was hard to sneak up on them with a _sword_ as opposed to Maliwan’s finest sniper line. 

And Rhys was no help at all. The man could barely hold a gun properly, much less shoot with any form of accuracy. 

“How are you this bad at using a gun, Rhys? Do you not test your own products? I mean, I get Atlas is all about auto-targeting systems, but this is embarrassing!” Katagawa bit out in frustration as another rakk they were trying to sneak up on ran off the second Rhys fired the stolen Maliwan pistol, missing the shot in a vivid display of blue sparks. 

“I have people for that... like a literal vault hunter buddy and an army of troops.” Rhys argued. 

“Besides, I don’t know how anyone could be accurate with the charge time on this fucking thing. If we don’t starve to death, I can’t wait to see this gun plummet to its death in the sales market because no one wanted to _wait_ 5 seconds before a shot fires!”

“It’s about _timing_ , Rhys. Waiting for the right time to strike,” Katagawa retorted, “Besides, I don’t even think you’re holding it properly! It’s no wonder you keep missing with _that_ form. Who taught you to shoot, buddy?” 

“Uh, well...it’s been a while…” Rhys defended weakly.

Katagawa sighed, dropping his sword to stomp over to where the other man was standing, ignoring Rhys’ sputtering protests as came up behind him and started to adjust the older man’s grip on the gun with his own hands. 

“What the hell are you doing, Maliwan?” Rhys sputtered.

“I’ll show you,” Katagawa purred, kicking the older man’s long legs apart into something resembling a proper shooting stance. If his hands lingered a little too long, that was his own business, Katagawa thought to himself.

“Seriously? Uh, _fine_ , get it over with...” Rhys huffed.

Rhys was surprisingly silent after that, two spots of red high on his pale cheeks as he let Katagawa manoeuvre him into the correct stance. 

This close, he realized Rhys was nearly as tall as he was, which didn’t surprise him. The older man was all legs, Katagawa thought hungrily, as he let his eyes run up and down said legs.

He smirked, entertained by how flustered their closeness was making Rhys. He slid a gloved hand down to the older man’s hip, pulling it back into the right position before tapping it twice. 

“Hips like this, legs apart…grip tight on the...gun.” he said, taking advantage of their closeness to lean in and whisper the instructions into Rhys’s ear. He really couldn’t help himself. This was _fun_.

“Ah...what am I aiming for?” Rhys breathed.

Katagawa watched with rapt attention as the older man’s hands twitched on the gun he was holding. From this close, he could see how the auburn hair at the base of Rhys’s neck had curled from sweat in the warm Pandoran desert, and the dark, circular lines of the tattoo peeking out from the collar of Rhys’s dress shirt. Katagawa sighed, pleased with himself for thinking of this, then he helped Rhys line up the pistol’s sights with a small pile of debris in the distance. 

“There. It’s not too far away, but not too close either. Now, just aim down the sights ...and fire.” Katagawa hummed, bracing himself for the small kickback and watching as the target was decimated in a show of sparks. 

“Hey, I got it! You see that, Maliwan?” Rhys laughed. 

He stepped out of Katagawa’s grip, turning and smiling at the younger man triumphantly. 

_Oh. Rhys’s eyes crinkle a little at the corners when he laughs._ Katagawa couldn’t help but think helplessly.

Katagawa blinked, taking a step back at the sudden warmth blooming in his chest at the sight. 

“Now let’s hope you can actually hit a moving target. If we haven’t scared all the wildlife away before,” Katagawa said, rushing to compose himself and turning away to get his sword before Rhys could notice the heat rising to his cheeks. 

* * *

Between the two of them they had finally managed to kill a small rakk for dinner. They dragged it back to the shack, sweaty and exhausted, some time later. 

Katagawa frowned as Rhys set the ugly thing down on the old rickety table. 

“What the hell are we supposed to do with this thing now? I'm certainly no chef,” Katagawa said. 

Rhys simply grinned, rolling up the sleeves of his white button up. He dug around in the kitchen drawers. 

“Watch and learn, Katagawa! There’s gotta be a knife in here somewhere…” he said.

Katagawa had a folding knife deep in his pocket that he had learned from an early age to carry on him at all times. He reached into his pocket, palming its cold Maliwan plasti-steel handle. Its weight was reassuring as always. 

Rhys didn’t need to know that he had it though. As harmless as Katagawa thought Rhys was, it would be unwise to reveal it, just in case. 

He listened as Rhys made a triumphant noise as his rummaging rewarded him with a butcher knife. 

“Lucky for us, my best bro Vaughn taught me how to prepare rakk stew once when I came to visit him! Which, I mean, sounds disgusting, really, but it’s not as bad as you think, especially when you’re starving.” Rhys said.

Katagawa wrinkled his nose as he watched Rhys get to work on preparing the rakk. He missed his small army of personal chefs, quite frankly, but he supposed it was fortunate Rhys knew how to at least make them something.

“You’re friends with someone who thinks rakk stew is good cooking? What is he, a bandit?” Katagawa asked finally, taking off his suit jacket to reveal the vibrant green dress shirt underneath.

He frowned, seeing all the sand and dirt caked into his favourite jacket before setting it on the back of the chair. 

He wished he had a shower. He brushed himself off before settling into the rickety chair to continue to watch the older man cook for them. 

“Well, me and Vaughn go way back,” Rhys said, digging through the cupboards to look for something. He hummed, reaching into the back and pulling a couple of spice shakers out. This old shack wasn’t a complete bust at least. 

“Can you believe he used to work at Hyperion with me way back when? Used to crunch numbers in accounting. Now he’s out here, bandit war chief and all that. Total badass.” 

Katagawa rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt carefully then rested both of his gloved hands on the table. Hearing Rhys talk about his little bandit _friend_ with such affection filled him with sharp pangs jealousy. He glared at the older man, full lips pulling into a pout subconsciously. 

_Stop talking about him. Talk to me._ Katagawa couldn’t help but to think bitterly.

“Fascinating,” Katagawa said, deadpan. 

“Hey, you asked.” Rhys placated, raising an eyebrow at the younger man’s sudden change in temperament. 

Katagawa watched in tense silence as Rhys rummaged around the small kitchen. He seemed pretty comfortable in the kitchen, which surprised Katagawa. 

“You look like you know your way around the kitchen,” Katagawa voiced after a time. 

“Don’t you have people for that? You’re CEO, aren’t you? Why waste time cooking for yourself?” 

Rhys snorted, scraping the bits of rakk he had cut up into an old pot, where some of the water was starting to simmer. He dumped the spices in. 

“I wasn’t always CEO, Katagawa.” Rhys said, raising an amused eyebrow at the younger man.

“I used to work plenty of crappy low paying jobs where I had to make do learning to cook and take care of myself. And of course, college was a wild time where Vaughn and I basically subsided on take out... so I decided to learn. I kind of like cooking for myself every once in a while...you should try it.” 

Katagawa rolled his eyes. “No, thank you. We have staff for that, it’s _their_ job to serve _us_.”

“Well, you know. If you ever get that huge silver spoon out of your ass, it can be a relaxing hobby,” Rhys said teasingly. 

“If you say so.” Katagawa said. “I suppose it’s coming in handy in this situation.” 

Rhys nodded, leaving the stew to simmer on the stove and turning to slouch into the seat across from the younger man. He yawned and stretched both arms, human and metal, over his head. He moaned in relief as his arched back popped. 

Katagawa leaned forward, resting his head in his hand casually, suddenly much more interested. This was far more entertaining than watching him putter about the kitchen. The sounds Rhys was making as he stretched were positively pornographic.

Katagawa had the sudden intrusive thought of crossing the room and climbing into the older man’s lap to see what other sounds he could draw out of Rhys. He felt a little warm, even if he had just removed his jacket. 

“God, I’m exhausted. And I don’t even wanna think about how many meetings I’ve missed by now. My PA is going to kill me...” Rhys sighed, slumping down onto the table. 

Katagawa blinked himself out of his reverie at the dull sound of the older man’s metal limb thumping against the old wood. 

He took a second to really look at the older man’s cybernetics uninterrupted to entertain himself while they waited. Katagawa couldn’t help but think the elaborate paisley pattern painted on the red surface was actually quite nice now that he had a closer view.

Katagawa wondered if a cybernetic limb would suit him too, once he got back to Maliwan. He had already undergone the surgery for his ECHOeye a couple of months ago. What was one more surgery? Even if complications from the first surgery had left him bedridden for weeks, the surgeon dismissed afterwards for his incompetence, it had been worth it to emulate Rhys’s other signature feature. 

Though the red colour would have to go, surely, Katagawa decided as he examined the metal of Rhys’s limb. Maybe something in black or green? 

“What’re you staring at?” Rhys asked finally, blinking up at him curiously. 

“Your cybernetic arm,” Katagawa replied bluntly.

“How long was the healing time for that?” He asked.

Rhys furrowed his brow once he realized what the younger man was implying. “Oh, no way, Katagawa. Surely you wouldn’t get your arm cut off just to, uh...?” 

“What, you didn’t have yours removed?” Katagawa asked. 

“Well, I did...long healing time. Though I wasn’t too torn up about it in the end when I realized how much of an edge this baby gives me while programming.” Rhys replied.

“Though, you wouldn’t really need one like mine anyways. It’s not like you code or anything…” 

“Well then, that settles it.” Katagawa said impulsively, “I want one. I don’t care if I have to have my arm cut off.” 

Rhys just sighed, shaking his head. “Anyone ever tell you you’re kind of… _intense,_ Katagawa?” 

Katagawa just tilted his head to the side, beaming. 

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Rhys.” 

* * *

Katagawa checked the makeshift barricade on the door a while later, belly full of Rhys’s weird bandit stew. He had to admit it actually hadn’t been that bad, as long as he didn’t think of where the meat had come from. 

“This should hold.” Katagawa confirmed, turning to face the older man, who he saw was brushing off the mattress in the corner of the room. Rhys balled up his vest into a makeshift pillow. 

“Guess we’re sharing.” Rhys joked with some reluctance. 

“I’m not sleeping on the floor after walking through a desert all day. My back would never forgive me.” He continued.

“Seems that way,” Katagawa agreed. 

He approached the mattress, trying not to show his own trepidation. Katagawa knew it had been a very long time indeed since he had slept in the same bed as someone else. His numerous one night stands were never allowed to spend the night as a firm rule. 

Katagawa didn’t like sleeping around other people. It left him too open, too vulnerable. Unfortunately, even if he took the floor, the trailer was far too small to provide much privacy. At the same time, this was a chance to get closer to _Rhys_. He felt torn about how he should approach this situation.

He toed off his shoes and lined them up by the end of the mattress beside Rhys’s boots. 

Katagawa kneeled, shuffling onto the mattress next to Rhys who was already settled in nearest the wall. This wasn’t really what he had in mind when he imagined himself getting closer to the older man. His fantasies included far less clothing, after all. This was...oddly intimate, in Katagawa’s opinion. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.

Katagawa blinked, his cheeks burning as he rolled over, putting his back to Rhys. He had half a mind to just turn over and straddle the older man, lean down and kiss him, just to dissipate this unfamiliar feeling building up in his chest and get onto more familiar ground.

He stiffened as he felt the mattress shift behind him as Rhys got comfortable. Katagawa’s heart was nearly pounding out of his chest, both excited and terrified by the older man’s closeness. 

“Well uh, goodnight I guess. Hope you don’t snore.” Rhys joked.

“I hope _you_ don’t snore!” Katagawa snapped back, maybe a little too aggressively. This whole thing put him a little on edge. 

“No promises,” Rhys snorted, shuffling around some more before going silent. 

Katagawa lay there stiffly until he heard Rhys’s breathing even out moments later. Katagawa frowned to himself. He heard the distant sound of a rakk screeching outside, the wind whistling against the side of the old trailer. 

How on earth could Rhys even relax enough to fall asleep that fast? Despite knowing his body was exhausted, Katagawa felt wide awake. He shivered, surprised at how cold it was at night when the desert had been scorching hot during the day. 

He curled in on himself a little tighter as his mind raced over the day’s events. He couldn’t help but worry about how they had come to be in this situation. 

Rhys had a point, that someone had to have betrayed him to have his ship shot out of the sky like that. The question was, who? Katagawa had been so careful to keep his dealings with the Calypso Twins a secret. There was no way someone could’ve found out, was there? 

_Could any of his family had caught wind of it? Where any of them even brave enough to plan something like this_? Katagawa wondered, as he furrowed his brow anxiously.

He thought of his eldest brother Kaito, with his stern temperament that was quick to turn cruel at the drop of a hat. Or maybe it was Akane, with her cold, dead eyes and snide laughter. Yuko, maybe, who had always purposely antagonized him for fun? Those were probably the most likely, but Katagawa didn’t want to rule anyone else out either. 

He was well aware of how much all his older siblings hated him. He just thought they’d be too cowardly to do something of this magnitude right under their father’s nose. Katagawa silently raged at the idea that one of them might have beat him to the chase when it came to cutting down the family line. 

He reached down into his pocket, running his fingers over his knife’s handle carefully. If... _when_ he found out which one of them it was, he’d find them and shove it deep into their neck himself, Calypsos and the consequences be damned for thinking they could one-up him. 

He just had to get back up onto Maliwan first. With Rhys in tow.

“You gonna fall asleep at some point?” Rhys whispered suddenly behind him, startling Katagawa out of his thoughts. 

“Weren’t _you_ sleeping?” Katagawa replied.

“Can’t sleep over the sound of you shivering over there. You’re gonna vibrate a hole through this shitty mattress, Katagawa.” Rhys joked sleepily. 

“Well, it’s freezing,” Katagawa said defensively. He had hardly noticed he was shivering, his mind filled with worry and anger about their predicament. 

“Besides, I doubt you’re used to the desert ambiance outside either. I don’t know how anyone could sleep over the racket all the wildlife is making,” 

“Got me there.” Rhys agreed. 

They lay there in awkward silence for a couple of moments before Rhys spoke up again. 

“So, uh, don’t make this weird, but I’m never gonna fall asleep at this rate, so…” he mumbled, rolling closer. 

Katagawa blinked, stunned into silence, as he felt an arm wrap around his waist loosely and heat against his back. 

“R-Rhys, what are you...?” Katagawa began, not proud of the way his voice stuttered. His heart began to pound again. 

_Rhys...Rhys is holding me_ , Katagawa thought dumbly. 

“Sharing body heat, obviously?” Rhys replied, sounding just as embarrassed. “It’s freezing and I want to fall asleep at some point. Just shut up and relax already...” 

“Oh, right...” Katagawa said, fighting to keep his voice level. 

He could handle this. Katagawa silenced himself, two spots of red high on his cheeks. Thankfully it was too dark for Rhys to notice. 

He didn’t feel cold anymore. He felt warm all over, the points of contact between them burning especially hot. What the hell was this? 

This felt different then when he had been wrapped around the older man earlier, showing him how to shoot. Katagawa had been in _control_ , then. 

His body was betraying him, Katagawa decided. A strange mix of arousal, excitement and embarrassment warred within him, as if his body didn’t know how to react to the intimacy of having the older man at his back in a non-sexual context.

He shifted forward a little only to have Rhys tug him back with a firm hand on his hip. “Just relax, Katagawa. It’s like you’ve never shared someone’s bed before or something,” Rhys breathed, the feeling of his warm breath on the back of Katagawa’s neck sent another wave of electricity through his body as if he had been shot by one of Maliwan’s new line of pistols. 

Katagawa just moaned softly, unable to help himself. _Was he seriously getting turned on by this?_

Rhys laughed quietly. Katagawa felt the older man’s shoulders shake with it. 

“I said don’t make it _weird_ , Katagawa.” 

“Stop teasing me! This was your idea to begin with!” Katagawa whispered defensively. 

“Maybe I _like_ teasing you. Revenge for earlier with the gun thing. Which I know what you were doing, by the way.” Rhys purred. 

“Now go to sleep already, _Kat_.” 

_Oh._ Katagawa thought, body oversensitive and trembling in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. It took him a long time to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've read so many Rhack fics where Rhys sucks at cooking so I figured I'd give the poor guy a break for once. Congrats Rhysie, you're a chef!
> 
> Also, the "OH NO THERE'S ONLY ONE BED" trope is a classic and I couldn't help myself ;)
> 
> Thanks for everyone who's been reading so far! :) It's gonna get a bit darker as we delve into some Katagawa's terrible childhood flashbacks in the next chapter so prepare yourselves.
> 
> More soon!


	5. Take What You Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katagawa has nightmares, and he and Rhys get into trouble with the local wildlife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional warnings for this chapter: detailed flashback to abuse Katagawa suffered at the hands of one of his siblings, canon-typical creature violence

Katagawa must’ve fallen asleep at some point, because he was surely dreaming right now. 

He was back on his family’s summer home on Eden-6. Katagawa felt weightless, as if he was just a spectator floating above the ground. He frowned, turning to look across the way and there he saw the giant tree in the backyard. 

He floated down the steps and frowned to himself. He hasn’t been back here in years, not since…

As if responding to his realization, two figures materialized from thin air, one chasing another. They were...himself, as a young man, and his sister, Yuko, Katagawa recognized with a shock. 

Katagawa following them warily. He blinked, his body feeling hazy as if he wasn’t really there. Next thing he knew it felt like he was running too, suddenly transported into the body of his younger self, stuck reliving the memories all over again. 

“Come back here, Junior!” Yuko screamed, her shoes pounding on the earth as she chased Katagawa across the yard. 

“No! Yuko, g-get away from me!” he cried, scrambling away, shorter legs a disadvantage as she gained on him easily. 

Katagawa stumbled to the ground, expensive, child sized footwear caught on an exposed root from the big tree on the edge of the property. 

He squeaked, all the air shoved out of his chest as his elder sister’s weight settled onto his lower back roughly. 

“Caught you!” She laughed, the sound high pitched and cruel. 

“Get off of me!” he wheezed, only to yelp as she shoved his face into the dirt roughly, her long, manicured nails digging into his scalp. He sputtered, tasting the dirt with disgust. He kicked at her, trying to get his arms out from under him, but her weight kept him pinned easily.

“Stop your whining, Junior! I just want to show you something, that’s all. Father gave me this for my birthday! Isn’t it pretty?” She crooned. 

Katagawa’s eyes widened, his struggles stopping suddenly as she tore his head to the side.

In her hand, a small, expertly made pocket knife gleamed menacingly in the orange light of the setting sun. Distantly, Katagawa noticed the plasti-steel handle was painted with Maliwan colours. 

“He said I could use it for self defence, you know. In case men get _touchy_ . Practice until our sword lessons begin. But I decided it would be much more fun to use it for a little _hunting_ , you know? More fun than using those guns our company makes. This is more _personal_ , don’t you think, baby brother?” 

She suddenly dragged the sharp side of the knife across the thin skin of his neck, casually, as if she was just peeling a fruit with breakfast. Katagawa hissed, small pinpricks of blood appearing from the shallow cut and dribbling down onto to dirt.

He sucked in a shallow, terrified breath, but tried not to move too much. He didn’t want to risk cutting himself more deeply. All he could smell was the dirt, his sister’s strong perfume, and the coppery scent of his own blood. He felt sick. 

Yuko laughed, the sound mean and ringing in his ears. “Come on, aren’t you even gonna try and defend yourself a little, Junior?” 

“Yuko…why?” he gasped. He felt as if there were invisible fingers wrapped around his throat stopping him from speaking up. All he could focus on was the bloody sheen of the knife his sister was holding so close to his face. 

“Why?” She giggled. 

“You’re so _naive_ , Junior. Here I am, doing you a favour and trying to teach you a little lesson, like a good sister! I did it just because I wanted to. If you want something, you should take it. If you don’t, you’ll end up with nothing. And we aren’t _nothing_ in this family, are we?” 

He willed his body to move, to fight back. He wasn’t _nothing_. He was a Katagawa too, after all.

Instead, he just lay there, paralyzed with fear beneath her weight, limbs feeling like they weighed hundreds of pounds. He squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to stop seeing that knife as her cruel laughter echoed around him. 

“Well, maybe _some of us_ are nothing,” Yuko said, leaning down to whisper the words in his ear menacingly. 

“I mean, look how easy it was to catch you! Even the silly little domesticated wildlife creatures father keeps out here for us to hunt have more fight left! Wait until I tell the others how easy it was to make you submit…maybe they’ll wanna come out here and chase you too!”

“No…” Katagawa choked out.

“What was that? Are you telling me _no?_ ” she cackled. 

“Ms. Yuko? Are you out here? You’re going to be late for your appointment!” one of the house maids called suddenly from inside, and as soon as it had come, Yuko’s weight lifted from his back. 

“Coming!” She said, her voice sickly sweet as if she hadn’t just been smashing her brother’s face into the dirt with a knife at his throat. She stuck the knife in the ground beside Katagawa’s face, then sauntered back into the house without a second look. 

Katagawa lay in the dirt for a long time after that, staring at the knife embedded in the ground beside him until his breathing slowed down and he felt nothing but numb from the cold as the sun went down.

Eventually he lifted himself up, brushing the dirt from his clothing. He reached for the knife with shaking hands, folding it shut and shoving it deep into his pocket. 

His sister's voice echoed in his head all the way back to the house. 

_If you want something, you should just take it._

* * *

Katagawa startled awake with a gasp. All he could feel was an overwhelming weight above him. He scrambled out from under it in a panic, limbs hitting the floor with a series of dull thuds as he rose to his feet. 

He was halfway across the room, reaching into his pocket for the weight of the knife when he realized he was not on his family’s old summer home being terrorized by his sister, but on the floor of an abandoned trailer on Pandora and the overwhelming weight had been _Rhys_. 

Rhys, who was groaning in pain from his rude awakening. 

“Wha’?” Rhys said, half asleep and looking very confused as he rubbed at his elbow. 

Katagawa loosened his grip on his knife as he became more aware of his surroundings, sliding it back into his pocket quickly before Rhys could notice it. He brushed himself off, moving to grab the water jug and sitting on one of the kitchen chairs. He knew he wouldn’t be getting any more sleep tonight. 

“The fuck was _that_ for?” Rhys growled, blinking tiredly at him from his spot on the threadbare mattress. 

“Was just getting up to have some water,” Katagawa lied, acting composed as if nothing had happened. He twitched a little, hoping Rhys hadn’t caught on.

Rhys just squinted at him suspiciously before rolling onto his back and shutting his eyes again. 

“Well it’s freezing, get your ass back in here, Katagawa...” he said grumpily, lips formed into a pout that Katagawa could barely see in the dull light of the moon. 

Now that the sweat from his nightmare had dissipated Katagawa could feel the cool air seeping into his clothes once again. 

He eyed the other man warily, but was unable to resist Rhys’s pouting face. A man his age had no right looking so... _cute_ pouting, Katagawa thought.

“Fine, if you can’t go a minute without me,” Katagawa huffed, stalking back to the mattress. The vulnerability of having been caught in the throes of a nightmare made him snappy. He pushed Rhys over and pressed himself against the older man’s back instead. He didn’t feel like having anyone at his own back, not after _that_ nightmare.

He hadn’t thought of what happened at the old house in years. He had carried his sister’s knife so long it had become _his_ in his mind. He wondered why he was suddenly dreaming about it now. 

“Ha,” Rhys mumbled, falling back to sleep after a couple of moments. 

Katagawa lay there awake until the sun started to stream through the broken window of the trailer, his head pressed to the older man’s broad back so closely he could hear the steady beat of Rhys’s heart. 

* * *

There was a silent agreement to not talk about what had happened last night, even if it was likely they’d probably have to share a bed again. It made for a very awkward morning, which had been mostly silent between them as they gathered their things.

Katagawa figured they’d cross that bridge when they came to it, or just didn’t talk about it at all. He wasn’t eager to remind Rhys about his nightmare either, so it was just as well in his opinion. 

They had packed up their little supplies and had been walking for several hours the next day when Rhys suddenly stopped, sticking an arm out to stop Katagawa from walking too. 

“What?” Katagawa huffed, running a hand through his hair. Most of the product had loosened at this point so he was sure he looked a mess. He couldn’t wait to be back at Maliwan where they had running water and some new clothes. 

“Uh, do you see that?” Rhys said, both eyes squinting at something in the distance. He brought up his metal hand to help shield his eyes from the sun. 

“See what, Rhys?” Katagawa asked, gazing in the direction the older man was. All he saw was a pile of giant rocks against the same stone hills they’d been following through the desert for hours. He squinted as well.

“Do you think there could be a cave or something down there? We could rest in there.” Rhys replied, already starting to run towards it. He slid down one of the huge rocks, disappearing from Katagawa’s view. 

Katagawa growled, tightening his grip on his sword and beginning to follow. He had no idea what Rhys had seen but he wasn’t about to let him run off without him. 

“Wait! Rhys!” He called, breaking into a run to catch up to him. His shoes slid into the heavy sand and it was hard to go as quickly as he’d like. He slowed to a stop when he got to the edge of the rock Rhys had disappeared over, eyes widening at the sight before him.

There had been a cave alright, but it was occupied by plenty of skags. Katagawa froze as he took in the sight of Rhys slowly backing away from a pack of them. Rhys must’ve stumbled on their den. 

“Uh...shit, good skags! It’s ok!” Rhys said nervously, his hand inching slowly towards the gun still strapped to his thigh. 

One of them opened its mouth, growling lowly as electricity started to build around it. A shock skag, Katagawa realized. 

Katagawa felt his heart rise into his throat at the sight of it. He thought of Kaito’s pet skag, freezing in place in fear. He knew what these monsters could do. 

“Rhys, run!” Katagawa managed to bite out, voice high with wariness just as Rhys fired a single shot from his pistol. 

It all went downhill from there.

Rhys’s bullet sent electricity rumbling towards the skag which responded with a defensive burst of its own. It seemed to barely affect it beyond pissing it off and it started barreling towards Rhys. The other skags growled, attention caught by the gunshot. 

“Oh, shit, it’s got friends!” Rhys screeched, stumbling back and falling onto his ass as he caught the end of the blast. The pistol dropped to the ground as he braced himself on his hands. 

Katagawa felt his feet moving without thinking at the sight, stumbling down the rock face unsteadily. 

He gripped his sword tightly in both hands, moving into the familiar battle stance, his body on autopilot despite the panic ringing in his ears. 

He slid into place just as the skag caught up to Rhys, sword out. The skag, unable to stop itself in time, slid mouth first into the blade of Katagawa’s sword with a screech. He winced as warm blood splattered all over his front, stumbling back and kicking the skag’s dying body off his blade before it shocked him one last time. 

“Run or start shooting, Rhys!” He shouted to Rhys, who was still laying behind him in utter shock. 

Rhys scrambled for the gun, raising himself to his feet on shaking legs and moving into the stance Katagawa had taught him. 

“I got it!” Rhys yelped, charging his next shot. 

“Switch it to corrosion, Rhys!” Katagawa growled as he swung his sword into the side of another approaching skag. He hissed as his timing was slightly off and he got a small shock from its defensive spark of electricity for his troubles. 

He barely had time to notice, his feet already bringing him towards the next one. Green acid shots began coming from behind him, melting the armoured side of the same skag Katagawa had been attacking. He darted forward and sliced his blade into its weakened side until it slumped to the floor, dead. 

They continued with that strategy, Rhys melting their armoured sides with the pistol and Katagawa dealing the final blow until the skags dwindled in numbers. 

Katagawa wiped skag blood off his forehead, panting hard as he ripped the blade out of the last one’s side. 

“This is...all your...fault!” He gasped, turning to glare at the older man when they finally got a second to catch their breaths. 

Rhys just stared back at him looking just as disheveled, his hair standing up on one side from when he had gotten the tail end of a shock from the first skag, eyes wide. 

“Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had…but we handled it didn’t we?” Rhys argued, hands shaking as he slid the gun back into the holster. 

“You... _we_ could’ve died!” Katagawa continued. 

“I didn’t ask you to come save me, Katagawa!” Rhys bit back. 

Katagawa just frowned at the older man, lips pulling into a pout. “I wasn’t going to just...leave you to die, Rhys!” 

They glared at each other stubbornly for a moment, both panting as the adrenaline from the battle faded. 

Rhys paused, staring at Katagawa with a strange expression. He eventually sighed, dropping his shoulders. “Okay, fine...thank you for saving me, Kat. I probably would’ve died without your help.” 

Katagawa’s brows pulled together, breaking the intense eye contact uncharacteristically. He brushed off his utterly ruined jacket, his cheeks burning. Fortunately there was so much blood spattered on his face he was sure Rhys wouldn’t notice. 

“It’s fine,” Katagawa said finally, staring at Rhys’s dusty boots to compose himself, before looking back up to smirk teasingly at the other man. 

“I still need you to sign over Atlas after all. Can’t do that if you’re a skag’s lunch.” 

Rhys just laughed, rolling his eyes as the tension between them eased a bit. “Oh my god, just give it a break!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you liked! :)


	6. Cavern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and Katagawa find shelter, compare tattoos, and one thing leads to another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional chapter warnings: Sexual content

The skags _had_ been guarding a cavern, after all. 

Katagawa had to admit he was relieved to be out of the sun as they wandered into the dark, cool cavern carefully. He kept behind Rhys, who was illuminating the way with light from his cybernetic palm, sword at the ready in case any more skags were left.

It seemed empty of any more skags and It looked like it had been a resting place for some other travelers at some point, because there was the remains of an old campfire, half full boxes of ammo, some old sleeping bags and threadbare blankets scattered about. 

It was easy enough to start a small fire in it with the help of the fire setting on the pistol. The cavern was soon filled with a warm glow, illuminating that there was actually a relatively shallow pool of water that had formed in the centre of the cavern.

“Oh, thank god, water,” Rhys groaned as Katagawa took care of the fire, dropping to his knees to refill their jug with clean water. He set it off to the side before dunking his whole head into the pool. 

Katagawa blinked at the sight before kneeling to scoop some clean water in his gloved hand, quickly rubbing the blood caked into his face off. The cold water was a relief against his warm skin. 

“Why don’t you take those off? Isn’t the water bad for the leather?” Rhys asked casually after he had cleaned his face off, brushing his wet hair back messily. He looked much happier already, now that his face wasn’t coated in blood, sand and dirt. 

Katagawa stiffened, running a careful hand through his hair to push it back from his eyes. “No. They’ve fine in water. Maliwan produces a water-resistant coating for clothing, you know.” 

Katagawa eyed the older man warily, daring him to ask him to take them off. He wouldn’t. He hadn’t let anyone see his ungloved hands in years. 

“Uh, alright then,” Rhys said curiously, before shrugging and moving to kick off his boots and socks, then tossing his vest to the side. 

Katagawa raised an eyebrow, eyeing the older man disrobing with blatant interest. “Not that I’m complaining if you want to get undressed, but what exactly are you doing?” 

Rhys snorted, two spots of heat rising to his face to betray his embarrassment as he quickly unbuttoned his white dress shirt. 

“Don’t get too excited, Katagawa, I’m just gonna clean myself off. I don’t know about you, but I’m filthy as hell. There’s sand...everywhere.” Rhys grimaced as he stripped down to his underwear. 

Katagawa simply nodded, slowly starting on the buttons and zippers of his own clothes until he was left in his briefs. The older man had a point. He piled his clothes by Rhys’ and waited until he was submerged at the waist with his back turned before he entered the pool of water himself. 

He shivered, the cool water a relief on his overheated skin. Katagawa carefully rubbed at himself, trying to get as much of the sand off as possible. How it had managed to get under his clothes this much when he was almost completely covered was beyond him. 

He hated Pandora. It was so filthy and they had almost died together _twice_ now. Katagawa had the feeling this wouldn’t be the last time. Rhys seemed like a magnet for bad luck. 

He felt eyes on him and turned slightly to find the older man staring. 

“What was that about not getting too excited? See something you like, Atlas?” Katagawa teased, though he was secretly thrilled to have caught the older man’s attention.

“Shut up, I just...didn’t know you had a tattoo. If It wasn’t so different, I’d say you were copying me again.” Rhys said. 

“ _Ha_. There’s more,” Katagawa said proudly. 

Katagawa turned away to display the rest of the piece. The snarling head of a dragon spread across the left side of his upper chest and collarbone. Its long, serpentine body continued around the back of his neck, under his barcode, and curled and sloped down the right side of his back all the way to the top of his ass, disappearing into the waistline of his briefs, before its tail curled back up around his hip playfully. 

The whole design was mostly shaded in black, but had vivid, almost glowing, accents in green and orange, Maliwan colours in the design department’s latest line of light-reactive tattoo inks. 

The artist had been eager to test the new inks on Katagawa’s body, and Katagawa had carefully persuaded him to be the _first_ to model them, much to his sister Yuko’s extreme jealousy. It wasn’t his fault the lead artist had a little crush on _him_ and not her. He still smiled when he remembered how angry she’d been when _his_ tattooed back and arm had appeared on the Maliwan ads for the new ink instead of hers like originally planned. 

The tattoo had been painful and time consuming to have done but the process was made more bearable by throwing back a cocktail of the little pills his older brother often _borrowed_ from his position in the biochemical department. Katagawa had always been good at convincing him to share them. 

He knew sitting through the long sessions was worth it for the way his previous bed partners and now, _Rhys’s_ eyes followed the detailed lines and curves of ink heatedly. He wouldn’t admit it if asked, but secretly, he also liked how it distracted from the barcode etched into the skin of the back of his neck. 

He turned back, catching Rhys’ eyes quickly skirting up from his lower back to his face. He smirked. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it? I’m surprised you haven’t seen the ads for the new ink we’ve patented, yet. Don’t you scope out the competition, Atlas?” Katagawa purred, watching the older man’s reactions attentively. 

He felt on better footing now that he was in his element, all flirting and easy seduction, instead of the unfamiliar intimate sleeping arrangements from the previous night. 

Rhys smirked at that, though he continued to blush lightly as he pointedly kept his eyes on the younger man’s face.

“Well, it’s very _flashy_ , Maliwan. A lot like you.” 

Katagawa chose that moment to dart forward, the water splashing around him as he backed the older man out of the water.

Goosebumps prickled up their bodies as wet skin was exposed to the rapidly warming air of the cave when they got closer to the campfire. 

Tension rapidly built between them as he reached forward, a gloved hand tracing the blue ink that circled Rhys’s collarbone and chest teasingly. He stepped even closer when the older man didn’t shy away, his wandering fingers circling a cold-hardened nipple. He grinned as he felt and heard the older man’s sharp intake of breath. 

“What, and _this_ isn’t flashy? You’re really one to talk, Rhys. And what was that earlier? Running out to endanger yourself with those skags, so I’d have to run and come save you...I think you like the attention.” 

Katagawa gazed up at the older man from beneath his eyelashes, as if daring him to do something about the little teasing touches. 

“Well then. Guess I’m lucky you were there to come save me right? You’re pretty good with a sword, huh?” Rhys purred.

He was rewarded with Rhys’s cybernetic hand gripping the back of his neck as he was suddenly pulled in for a rough kiss. Katagawa shut his eyes, both of his hands sliding down to grip the older man’s waist tightly, his long fingers digging into the plush skin firmly. He was kissing _Rhys,_ and it was even better than anything he would have fantasized about. He shivered, unable to stop a soft moan from escaping at the friction of Rhys’s moustache against his lips as they kissed aggressively. 

Rhys pulled back first, his expression cocky despite the flush high on his cheeks. 

“Who knew all it took to shut you up was a kiss, Katagawa.” Rhys whispered. 

“ _Rhys_.” Katagawa breathed, leaning in to nip at the older man’s jaw teasingly. “I’ve been wanting to do this with you for _ages_.” 

“Yeah? You wanted to kiss me that bad?” Rhys asked, sliding his other hand down Katagawa’s chest down to his hip, leaving goosebumps in its wake as he traced the line of his tattoo. 

“Well, more than just _kissing_ ,” Katagawa admitted easily, leaning in to bite at Rhys’s neck, heat going straight to his belly at the sound of Rhys’s resulting moan. He slid his hands down from Rhys’s waist to his ass, grabbing two handfuls of the older man’s cheeks greedily. It felt as wonderfully plush as it looked, Katagawa realized with a sharp jolt of pleasure. 

Katagawa used the hands on Rhys’s ass to pull him even closer at the hips, groaning as he ground his half hard erection against Rhys’s boxer-clad crotch and felt the older man’s answering hardness. 

“Well then, what do you want, Kat?” Rhys teased, his voice rough with arousal as he continued to pet his hip. Katagawa shivered. 

Fuck, he wanted to finally see Rhys’s dick so badly. He wanted to get his mouth on it, see if it was anything like all of his fantasies. 

“I _need_ it, Rhys.” Katagawa sighed, knees going weak with the urge to drop to the floor and just rip away the fabric keeping him from seeing _all_ of the object of his obsession.

“ _Rhys_ , let me see you...” he breathed when the older man didn’t reply, his heart thumping in his chest and cheeks burning hot with anticipation. 

“S-Shit, Katagawa…okay...” Rhys answered, tugging the younger man with him to the pile of threadbare sleeping bags by the campfire where he settled back on them. 

Katagawa crawled over him, shoving Rhys’s long legs apart to make room for himself between them. He leaned over the older man’s body, pressing wet kisses along his chest and soft belly, continuing down until he could nuzzle at the neatly groomed trail of auburn hair leading into the waistband of Rhys’s damp underwear. 

“Mmm, Rhys…” Katagawa sighed, rubbing his cheek against the bulge he found trapped inside those damp boxers, the older man’s erection so hard the head was nearly poking out of the slit in the fabric. 

Katagawa tugged at the elastic waistband of the older man’s underwear, pulling them down far enough to expose his prize. He reached up to grip the base, giving it a firm stroke and nearly whimpering at the sight of Rhys’s exposed erection in his gloved hand. 

So _this_ was what Rhys’s dick looked like. He swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth, his own arousal giving a small jolt between his legs as if realizing how close he was to making his long-time fantasy a reality. This couldn’t compare to his fantasies though. This was _better_. 

He let his eyelids fall half closed as he placed a single wet kiss against the weeping head of Rhys’s cock, smirking to himself as the older man’s hips gave a barely restrained jerk at the touch of his lips.

He looked up at the older man through his lashes, slowly licking away the salty smear of precome from his lips. He brought his fingers up to pet at the neatly-trimmed auburn hair surrounding the older man’s cock teasingly. 

“I just knew you’d taste _good_ , Rhys.” Katagawa cooed. 

Rhys exhaled shakily, his cheeks and chest flushed red with arousal. He reached forward, cybernetic hand resting against Katagawa’s shoulder while his flesh hand ran through the younger man’s thick black hair impatiently. 

“ _Fuck_ . C’mon, _please_ stop teasing me, Kat.” Rhys huffed. 

“You look so cute like this, Rhys. Red faced and saying _please_ for me is a very good look for you, you know. Even better than I imagined!” Katagawa grinned. 

Katagawa leaned down, satisfied with Rhys’s embarrassed sputter in response, and parted his lips around the head of Rhys’s cock. Rhys’s wasn’t the biggest dick he’d ever had in his mouth, but he was long, and knowing that it belonged to _Rhys_ made it all the more exciting to Katagawa. 

He looked up once to make sure the older man was watching him before he sank down to the base of Rhys’s erection until the thick, swollen head hit the back of his throat. Katagawa swallowed, letting out a pleased hum around Rhys’s length. 

The strangled sound Rhys made in response sent heat straight to Katagawa’s groin. He let his eyes slip shut as he started to bob his head, concentrating on letting the older man’s cock into the back of his throat without choking himself on each downstroke for several long moments, before he pulled back quickly in surprise as Rhys’s hips jerked up harshly, nearly choking him. 

“Shit, sorry,” Rhys panted, though he didn’t sound particularly sorry. 

“Didn’t mean to do that..it’s, ah, been a while since someone went down on me like _that_ if I’m honest.” 

Katagawa just grinned, pleased, before petting Rhys’s hips. He took a moment to breathe before speaking again. 

“You can pull my hair if you want...be rough with me....” Katagawa goaded, sitting back on his haunches to smirk at the older man haughtily. 

“You’re such a _mouthy_ brat. You know, I’m not in the habit of choking my partners with my dick without their permission... show me what you’ve got, then, if you’re so desperate for it.” Rhys growled, sliding both hands back up into Katagawa’s hair and giving him a sharp tug downwards.

Katagawa got to work, moaning excitedly around Rhys’s cock every time he felt him pull on his hair harder than before. He made sure to pay special attention to the sensitive spot under the head on his way up, pleased with how the firm pressure of his tongue there made Rhys whimper. 

The next time Katagawa managed to get the head of the older man’s erection into the back of his throat, Rhys held his head down firmly until his nose was buried in the auburn curls at the base before the younger man had the chance to bob back up. Katagawa looked up the best he could while being held in place, gazing at the older man as he gagged and drooled around the cock blocking his airway. 

“Fuck, you look so good down there,” Rhys groaned, mismatched eyes half lidded with pleasure as he tightened his grip on the back of Katagawa’s hair, the cybernetic one tugging harshly especially. 

Excess saliva slid messily down the younger man’s lips and chin as he swirled his tongue against the underside of Rhys’s cock. 

Rhys smirked a little, then slid his hand down, tracing one of his fingers around Katagawa’s neural port slowly.

Katagawa jerked, gasping and nearly choking around the older man’s cock at the sudden sharp pressure against his port made his eyes nearly cross. Fuck, what the hell was that? Katagawa wanted to feel it again. 

“What, you went through all this trouble to copy my cybernetics and you haven’t even tried playing your port before?” Rhys purred, pulling Katagawa’s head off of his cock to look at him teasingly. 

“Fuck, no, I didn’t _know_ ,” Katagawa groaned, his voice wrecked as he panted for air.

Rhys pushed him back down on his dick and Katagawa whined, feeling his eyes slide shut. His mind was going hazy with pleasure as he jerked his hips into Rhys’s thighs, desperate for some relief for his own aching dick. The insides of his briefs were a sticky mess as his erection steadily oozed precome, the pressure of Rhys’s lengthy cock stuffed down his throat and the firm touches on his port exciting him beyond belief. 

He struggled to concentrate enough through the fog of satisfaction and lack of air, his mind a steady mantra of _Rhys Rhys Rhys_ and nothing else as he felt the older man’s cock start to twitch in his throat. 

“Shit, Kat, I’m close,” Rhys moaned. 

Rhys loosened his grip on the back of his head, letting Katagawa bob back up and gasp for air, a thin string of saliva and precome connecting his tongue to the dripping head of Rhys’s cock.

“Come on, Rhys, I want to taste it…” Katagawa cooed, his voice utterly wrecked. 

Katagawa brought his gloved hand up to rapidly stroke Rhys’s cock until he felt it start to throb in his fist. He let his jaw drop open eagerly, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in anticipation of the older man’s orgasm. 

Rhys bit his lip, eyes sliding shut in pleasure as he came all over the younger man’s lips and tongue in hot, sticky pulses. Katagawa panted, his own cock giving a pained throb in response as he eagerly swallowed the man’s salty finish.

“ _Rhys…_ ” Katagawa purred, gently squeezing out the last of it before letting the older man’s softening cock rest onto his soft belly. 

“ _God_ , you’re killing me here,” Rhys breathed as he recovered. He reached down, running his flesh hand through Katagawa’s hair gently as he looked down at him with his brown and blue eyes. 

With his cybernetic hand, he wiped up a sticky glob of come and saliva on Katagawa’s chin with his thumb, pressing it back into the younger man’s mouth. 

Katagawa just panted around the older man’s thumb, his hips jerking against Rhys’s thigh eagerly, as if he suddenly remembered how hard he still was. 

“Rhys!” Katagawa cried. He’d never felt this aroused while sucking someone’s cock before. He was sure he’d explode if Rhys would just touch him already. 

“Shhh, c’mon up, let me take care of you now, Kat.” Rhys soothed, warm hands urging Katagawa up into his lap. Katagawa quickly straddled the older man, his thighs quivering in anticipation as Rhys pet them. 

Rhys slid the fingers of his flesh hand along the waistband of Katagawa’s briefs, simply tugging it down enough to free the younger man’s throbbing cock and balls. 

He gave the younger man’s cock an experimental stroke, humming as the copious amounts of precome Katagawa had leaked earlier easily smoothed his grip. 

Rhys grinned as he continued to stroke Katagawa’s erection firmly in a tight fist, using his other cybernetic fingers to tease his balls. 

“Look how wet your cock got...you’re kinda _cute_ like this _._ Does choking on my dick really make you that hot, Maliwan?” Rhys purred, words imitating the younger man’s earlier teasing. His mismatched eyes glittered in amusement as he watched Katagawa’s reactions to his words.

“R-Rhys…!” Katagawa moaned, his hands flying up to grip Rhys’s shoulders for purchase. Fuck, why was this so hot? Katagawa was usually the one doing most of the dirty talk in bed, but somehow having the tables turned on him by _Rhys_ was really doing it for him. Katagawa was beginning to suspect that anything Rhys did to him would be a turn on. 

“C’mon, answer me. _Kat_ got your tongue?” Rhys teased, clearly amused at his own joke as he continued to squeeze his flesh hand around Katagawa’s throbbing cock. 

Katagawa furrowed his brows, trying to be annoyed at the stupid pun, but he was too turned on to do more than breathe out shakily as Rhys rubbed the weeping head of his dick firmly with his thumb. Katagawa was so hard he could feel his own heartbeat throbbing in his cock. 

“Yes, Rhys!” He finally cried out in response, his vision starting to blur at the edges as he neared his peak. 

“Thought so,” Rhys smiled, pleased, his eyes crinkling at the corners. 

“Well come on, you gonna come for me, baby?” Rhys cooed, running his cybernetic fingers up Katagawa’s quivering abdomen playfully. He sped up the movement of his flesh hand as he felt the younger man’s cock start to twitch in his grip. 

“ _Rhys_!” Katagawa sobbed as his cock spurted heavy pulses of warm come onto the older man’s stroking fist. 

He reached down to try and push the older man’s hand away with shaking hands as he quickly became oversensitive, eyes nearly crossing as Rhys’s fingers tapped the tender head of his cock teasingly one last time. 

“ _Ah_!” Katagawa cried, his cock dribbling out one last sticky glob of come at the teasing overstimulation. 

Rhys grinned, letting him go to wipe his hand off on the discarded blanket instead. 

“You good? I’m gonna go, uh, wash off...” Rhys said. 

Katagawa panted as he recovered, trying to scowl down at the older man and failing miserably as Rhys gently shoved him off, getting up to step into the pool of water again. 

Katagawa bit his lip, sitting up as he tried to wait for the frantic thumping of his heart to slow. His mismatched eyes followed Rhys’s retreating back as if they were magnetized. 

Rhys had let Katagawa suck him off. Rhys had _touched_ _him back_. _Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys_ the voice in the back of his mind echoed compulsively. Katagawa could barely contain an euphoric laugh as he watched the man clean up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katagawa's "Rhys thirst" level cannot be contained, so this chapter ended up being like, 95% porn lmao. I don't think Rhys minded that much either ;) 
> 
> Also: what are everyone's headcanons about Katagawa's tattoos? Does he have any or not? I totally believe he'd have to have one once he found out Rhys did, but went with a more Japanese-inspired design. If you're curious what I had in mind, google traditional Japanese dragon tattoos.
> 
> Promise we're back to the actual plot, with more backstory about Katagawa's past next chapter. Thanks for reading! Comments are appreciated! :)


	7. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys and Katagawa work on decoding the block on Katagawa's ECHO frequency. Katagawa reminisces about his past relationships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional chapter warnings
> 
> Slurs, implied/referenced child abuse, unhealthy romantic relationships, infidelity, stalking, bullying, obsessive behaviour, poisoning, implied underage drug use, implied underage sex, bad parenting in general

Katagawa kneeled by the pool of water in only his green dress shirt and gloves, working on soaking out the skag blood from his and Rhys’s jackets some time later. He had already scrubbed their socks and underclothes clean and had laid them out by the fire to dry. 

He looked up from his task at the sound of his companion swearing, and watched with amusement as Rhys attempted to make whatever small amount of skag meat wasn’t too damaged from their earlier massacre palatable over the fire. Rhys seemed to be trying to skewer small pieces of it on a stick, mumbling something about “shish kabobs” as he struggled with the tough meat. 

Even being forced to do annoying little menial tasks couldn’t distract Katagawa from the manic energy thrumming through his body from their sexual encounter. 

He’d vehemently deny it if confronted about it, but Katagawa hated how vulnerable he always felt after sex. Usually, he made sure to ply himself with alcohol or drugs after casual encounters to avoid having to feel the subsequent mood drop as he was left alone again. 

But with _Rhys_...Katagawa had been hardly able to keep his attention away since then. He kept glancing over at the older man, as if he couldn't believe it really happened. Every time he saw that Rhys was still there, his heart beat faster, and the high was better than any drug. 

“Finally got it!” Rhys called, coming over to clean off his hands. “I saw someone cook this once, it should turn out okay...hopefully.” 

Katagawa raised an eyebrow, eyeing the cooking meat suspiciously. 

“I’m not sure anything can make skag taste good, Rhys.” Katagawa teased, setting Rhys’s vest by the rest of their drying clothing. The expensive fabric was surely ruined, but at least it wasn’t soaked with sticky skag blood anymore. 

“You’re probably right,” Rhys sighed, rolling the sleeves of his shirt back down and moving back to sit on the sleeping bags. 

“Say, Katagawa. After we eat, let me plug in to you again and we’ll see what I can do about that block on your ECHOeye.” 

“You know, you can plug me up any time, Rhys.” Katagawa purred, coming to sit next to the older man, eyes alight with mischief. 

“I didn’t mean like that, you brat, and you know it,” Rhys said with a roll of his eyes, though Katagawa could see he was blushing. 

* * *

Katagawa dozed, utterly bored out of his mind hours later as Rhys tapped away on his palm interface. The long prong coming from the wire in Rhys’s cybernetics had felt uncomfortable at first, but after awhile, Katagawa got used to it again, enough that he felt he could relax next to the older man. 

They had been at it so long the sun from outside had long since faded to night, only the crackling fire and Rhys’s palm interface providing light. 

At this point he almost wished Rhys hadn’t disabled his personal firewall...the weird haze of endorphins from last time would’ve been more entertaining than sitting around for hours as the older man coded. 

“Don’t fall asleep, Kat, you'll slow your processors and this’ll take even longer!” Rhys chided, nudging the younger man awake as Katagawa’s eyes slid shut for the second time in as many minutes. 

Katagawa blinked awake grumpily, tossing his best pout Rhys’s way. 

“I’m so _bored_ , though,” Katagawa groaned. He couldn’t even stare at Rhys, the older man complaining Katagawa’s intense gaze was too “distracting”.

“C’mon, stay up just a little longer,” Rhys pleaded.

“I want to finish this part, then we can sleep. Why don’t you tell me a story or something?” 

“A story?” Katagawa said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yeah,” Rhys mumbled. 

“What is this, a sleepover? What the hell would I even tell you?” 

“Oh my god,” Rhys groused, stopping his frantic typing to glare at the younger man.

“Tell me about your giant family or whatever, just keep talking about something interesting so you don’t fall asleep.” 

“ _My_ family? You really want to hear about that?” Katagawa said, surprised when Rhys nodded his assent. 

“Well, there’s twelve children including me, then my father, you know him, of course, and _her_.” 

“Her? Your mother?” Rhys asks curiously. 

Katagawa sighed, running a hand through his hair. Rhys _tsks_ at him for disrupting the wire. Katagawa has no idea why he’s telling Rhys about this so easily, but something in him makes him keep talking. Maybe it’s the utter boredom, maybe it’s the way Rhys looks at him just then. 

“She’s not _my_ mother, as much as most of my siblings liked to rub it into my face my whole childhood. I suppose it _bothered_ them that I came out with grey eyes instead of brown like the rest of them, my face shape different, that I grew so tall. My father decided he’d name me after him and no one would dare say he'd cheated on her, but it was obvious by the way I looked. Fortunately, no one would risk talking badly of my father. Not if they wanted to keep their job.” Katagawa continued, drumming his fingers on his leg casually, as if he were just talking about the weather. 

“Oh, that’s...well, that’s kind of sad, Kat.” Rhys said. 

“I don’t need your pity,” Katagawa snaps, a little harsher than he intends it. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m, uh, no good at this stuff...” Rhys backpedaled, eyes wide. “I just meant, that must have been hard for you growing up. Like, who blames a little kid for something like that? Wasn’t your fault...” 

“It’s fine, Rhys. I barely think of it. That _woman_ was always just bitter father slept with my ‘whore’ of a mother to produce his latest heir. She never accepted father might cheat on her, so she spent most of our childhood pretending I didn’t exist, and then he paid my birth mother to _disappear_ . I suppose if my step mother ignored me, she could pretend the affair didn’t exist either. It’s pathetic, really, what a sad, aging bitch does when she realizes she’s so easily _disposable_ .” Katagawa continued, forcing the tone of his voice back into something more pleasant, feeling vulnerable even though they’re just _talking_.

Poking at old wounds is never pleasant, Katagawa decided, as much as he hates to admit they may hurt more than he will openly talk about. 

“Jeez, Kat…” Rhys blinked, looking up from the code to face him. Katagawa has a hard time discerning what his expression means. He furrows his brow, then averts his eyes to stare into the flickering shadows the fire they’ve lit cast on the cave wall, before he has to decide if it’s supposed to be pity or not. 

“Like I said, it’s not a big deal. Maybe it bothered me when I was a foolish child. But I’m older now. Besides, you know none of this will matter anymore when _I’m_ CEO. Whoever my mother was is irrelevant. I still have my father’s blood.” Katagawa said firmly. 

“Well, I mean….what about your siblings then? Tell me their names?” Rhys asked, as if he senses he won’t get anymore about his stepmother from Katagawa right now. He looked down at the code, but he still glanced up at Katagawa every so often to show he was still listening. 

Katagawa sighed, sitting up a little straighter. He supposed it was a good thing that Rhys was taking more interest in him, even if the whole topic of conversation was a bit uncomfortable. He was used to learning everything about _his_ infatuations, not the other way around. He told himself Rhys must be starting to trust him more, that telling him just a little bit more couldn’t hurt.

“Well, the oldest is Kaito. Then, Akane...Hiroki, Issako, Kyo, Akiko….Sana, Kenji, Yuko, Haruka, Naoko...then, me.” 

“Aw, so you're the baby?” Rhys smiled, looking up for a second to grin at Katagawa. 

Not for the first time since they’ve been trapped down here, Katagawa wished his ECHOeye was connected to something. He wanted to record the way Rhys’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, the sight becoming more and more addicting the more Katagawa causes it to happen. 

“I’m hardly a child. I’m twenty four and I’ve already made Executive, you know. Mergers and Acquisitions.” Katagawa bragged, eager to flaunt his accomplishments in front of Rhys. This was more familiar territory. 

“Shit, _twenty four_? You’re gonna give a guy a complex, not gonna lie,” Rhys teased, looking back down to the code. 

Katagawa glared at the fire across from them. It probably needed some more wood. 

“Doesn’t matter. Like I said, when _I’m_ in charge, it won’t matter how old I am.” 

“You’re very ambitious,” Rhys said. “You know you’re still not _acquiring_ Atlas though, Kat.” 

Katagawa huffed. “We’ll _see_. Why do you keep calling me that anyways?” 

“What, _Kat_?” Rhys asked absentmindedly, squinting at a line of code. 

Katagawa hummed in response, his cheeks burning.

“‘Cause you _like_ it. It’s too dark to see now but I know you’re blushing again. Besides, it’s not like you’ve ever told me your first name. Katagawa is your family name, right?” 

Katagawa frowned. “It’s Kuro. People rarely call me that. I prefer being called Katagawa Jr. I’m the only sibling who got to have father’s namesake, and I intend to remind them of it every time they hear about me. I’m certain they’re all very jealous, that their little _bastard_ brother still got named after our father... though they’d all sooner die before admitting it.”

And they _would_ die, Katagawa thought smugly. 

“ _Kuro_ , huh. I kinda like calling you _Kat_ better, to be honest.” Rhys murmured, narrowing his eyes as he concentrated on a particularly tricky bit of code. It seems Katagawa’s started to lose his attention, but for once, he doesn’t mind. 

Katagawa turned, taking advantage of the older man’s distraction to stare at him again. He liked watching Rhys look so intently at something. Katagawa wanted Rhys to look at _him_ like that. 

“You’re pretty good at that.” Katagawa prodded. 

“Hm? Programming?” Rhys said absently. “God, who _wrote_ this? It’s a mess, like some kid in high school wrote it!” 

Katagawa snorted, sensing he wouldn’t get much more from the older man while he was so absorbed in his hacking. He let his thoughts wander off, trying to keep himself awake. 

* * *

He doesn’t know why he suddenly thinks of this, but once the memories pop into his brain, he can’t stop thinking about it. It will pass the time, at least.

Katagawa had a boyfriend, once, as a teenager. It happened in the spring of his junior year. 

He was a blonde, blue eyed boy, with impossibly broad shoulders and long legs. From the moment Katagawa had spotted him across the school lobby one day, joking and laughing with his friends, he was completely smitten. 

He bribed the office secretary until they accessed the other student’s file for him. Katagawa discovered his name was Jeremy and that he had gotten into the prestigious private academy they both attended on a _scholarship_ . Katagawa didn’t even know his school had scholarships, considering the only people he knew were there because their families had _a lot_ of money. 

Katagawa had spent weeks gazing at him across the hallways, noticing how the older boy was always surrounded by plenty of students their age. He was popular, in a way that had everything to do with his natural charisma and nothing to do with how much money his family had. Katagawa was utterly fascinated by Jeremy, because he seemed to be unlike all his own acquaintances, who were all rich sons of Maliwan executives. Katagawa wasn’t stupid, and he knew they all hung around him because that’s what rich sons of Maliwan executives did when _their_ fathers wanted a promotion. Katagawa knew they would’ve turned up their noses at someone like Jeremy if he tried to talk to the older boy. 

Despite that...Katagawa wanted to approach Jeremy, demand the boy pay him attention, the way he demanded it of everyone else he _wanted_ , but somehow, the way his heart nearly exploded out of his chest every time he passed the other boy in the hall stopped Katagawa from saying anything at first.

He settled for learning everything about Jeremy. He started following him through the halls from afar during his free period. Sometimes, he even skipped his own classes in order to see what Jeremy was up to. No one would dare report the son of Maliwan’s CEO for skipping a lesson, so he found out quickly he was able to skip classes easily without much consequence. 

Katagawa found out what Jeremy’s class schedule was so he could then easily discover where the older boy went for lunch, what his grades were, the names of all his friends... until one day, when no one else was around, the other boy came up to him in the middle of the hallway, stared him right in the eye and asked Katagawa to meet him back to his dorm room during afternoon classes. 

Katagawa’s heart could’ve burst out of his chest when Jeremy made the first move. He managed to articulate an agreement, his voice much more steady than he expected it to sound in the older boy’s presence. 

That afternoon, Katagawa quickly walked down the hallway, stopping outside a large wooden door. The hallway quickly emptied as the sound of the first bell rang through the large building and everyone rushed off to their classes instead of the dorms. 

He furrowed his brow, wringing shaking, gloved hands together, before scoffing at himself for getting so worked up about this. He looked around to make sure no one was watching, as Jeremy had requested, before flattening his uniform jacket and knocking on the door firmly. 

“It’s unlocked,” Jeremy called. 

Katagawa swallowed, his pulse skyrocketing at the sound. This was the first time he was close enough to hear what Jeremy sounded like when he talked, and Katagawa intended to savour this moment, and not ruin it with his nerves. Jeremy would be _his_. All he had to do was put on a confident face and not embarrass himself. Katagawa had faced harder things, he told himself. 

He pushed open the door, plastering a charming grin on his face. 

* * *

Jeremy and his friends liked to party, Katagawa found out soon enough early into their acquaintance. 

Fortunately for Katagawa, partying was one thing he was very good at. Katagawa was quick to offer his family’s plentiful supply of money for alcohol, live music, for the little pills he _borrowed_ from his older brother in the biochemistry department back at Maliwan. 

Expensive designer clothing, silver wrist watches, bottles and bottles of high-end alcohol...Katagawa wasted no expense in his efforts to impress him. 

Katagawa soon found that he would do anything for the way the other boy smiled at him when presented with the gifts. The look the Jeremy gave him felt better than any drug or drink Katagawa had ever tried, and he was quickly addicted. 

The thing was, Jeremy never explicitly called him his boyfriend. Sure, Jeremy only wanted to see Katagawa in his dorm room when everyone else was in class, or after the huge parties they both got plastered at, and he spent most of his time with Jeremy pressed face down into the other boy’s bed sheets. 

But in Katagawa’s young, utterly lovestruck mind, it was enough. 

Until one day, it wasn’t. 

* * *

Katagawa strode purposefully down the now familiar hallways leading to Jeremy’s dorm room, a small bottle of orange pills for the party this weekend rattling in his pocket. He approached the heavy door, about to knock when he noticed the door was cracked open a tad. 

Katagawa furrowed his brow as he heard voices from within. 

“Jeremy, you’ve been spending a lot of time in here alone, when are you going to come hang out with us again? You got a secret girl on the side or something?” said a teasing voice. 

One of Jeremy’s friends, Mark or Matthew? Katagawa couldn’t tell them apart by ear, they both had grating voices. He narrowed his eyes, making sure he was out of sight as he eavesdropped on the conversations taking place in the older boy’s room. 

“Nah, man, it’s nothing like that, you know my girlfriend back home would kill me if I slept with some other girl,” laughed Jeremy. 

Katagawa’s heart nearly stopped in his chest at the words. _Girlfriend_ …? he thought bitterly.

“I don’t know, buddy, Joseph told me he saw that little Maliwan trust fund creep that keeps showing up at our parties coming in here a lot. _Kitagawa_ or whatever his name is _?_ Please don’t tell me you’ve been sticking your dick in _crazy_!” 

Jeremy laughed, high and mean, completely unlike the way he sounded when they were together. Katagawa felt his stomach clench. 

“C’mon, so what if I am? Where do you think I’ve been getting all this booze and fancy new shit from? All I gotta do is let him slobber all over my dick a bit and he’s throwing nice watches at me. This ain’t my first rodeo...you know how easy these all these trust fund kids give it all up ‘cause their daddies don’t love ‘em! Besides, he lets me do all sorts of nasty shit to him that my girlfriend would never want me to do. He’s a huge slut.” 

Katagawa saw red the more he overheard Jeremy say, his hand squeezing the pill bottle in his pocket so tightly he thought the plastic might burst. 

The other boy in the room snickered. “Man, you’re gross. But I guess keep it up, Maliwan kid really has to good shit for our parties. You’re getting more for tonight, right?” 

Katagawa stumbled back the door, breath shaking and vision nearly blurred with angry tears. He’d heard enough. 

His feet carried him back to his own dorm room as if on autopilot, barely cognizant of how he had gotten there, he was so furious. 

He slammed the door shut behind him, sliding to the floor against it as he let the tears he’d been holding back in the hallways start to fall now that he was in the safety of his own room.

 _Girlfriend! Girlfriend! He’s got someone else he’s going to leave you little slut slut slut don’t tell me you’ve been sticking your dick in crazy_ all echoed in his head in an overwhelming cacophony of self hatred. 

He gripped his hair in his hands and pulled harshly, the sharp pain grounding him slightly. He reached into his uniform pocket, reaching for his knife with trembling fingers, pulling it out and unfolding it. The discarded pill bottle dropped and rattled onto the floor. 

He stared at the blade of his favourite knife through vision blurred with tears. He had half a mind to take it and shove it deep into that lying betrayer’s neck. He took a shaky breath, then another, then another, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand. 

_This was fine, he could fix this._ His mind screamed at him. _Jeremy was supposed to be his. Jeremy had betrayed him. Jeremy…. had someone else! No one cheated on a Katagawa... he’d show him._

Katagawa growled, slamming the blade into the wood of the floor as he came to a decision on what he would do next. 

He grabbed the discarded bottle of pills and got up, scrounging through the cabinet under the sink in his ensuite bathroom, leather gloved fingers knocking things aside until he found a container of powdered bleach cleaner, left there by the cleaning staff. He then twisted the pill bottle open, carefully prying apart the delicate coloured plastic casing on each little pill, dumping the current contents down the sink and replacing it with the bleach. 

He felt calmer and calmer the more he laced the pills with the noxious material, his hands shaking less and less until he felt nothing but a sadistic thrill as he anticipated the stupid look on the faces of everyone at this party who’d betrayed him would have as they suffered the effects of these _new_ pills. 

If Katagawa was only good for supplying their drugs, anyways...he’d show Jeremy, his freeloading friends a little party they’d _never_ forget.

A week later, Katagawa had to change schools and was to visit a court-ordered psychiatrist. It was amazing how his father’s money could sweep petty criminal charges and diagnosis under the rug like his family did with all their other indiscretions. 

There was nothing _wrong_ with Katagawa Sr’s youngest, perfect son, after all. There was nothing wrong with any of his children. And if there _was_ , money made sure there was no record of it. 

And if it happened enough times, maybe Katagawa Jr started to believe it too. 

* * *

“Kat? Hello?” Rhys said, pulling Katagawa from his thoughts as he shook his shoulder lightly. 

Katagawa blinked, turning to see that the older man had pulled out the prong and wire and was tucking it back into his cybernetic arm. He hadn’t even noticed, so immersed in his memories. 

“You...you were shaking and kinda... spacey, for a bit?” 

“Oh, I…” Katagawa said, shaking his head as if to dislodge the old memory. He hadn’t thought of Jeremy in years. He supposed spending so much time around another prospective romantic partner made him think about it.

“Sorry, I was just...remembering something. Nothing important, now that I have your full attention again, Rhys. What were you saying?” he purred, putting a pleasant expression on his face so he wouldn’t concern Rhys any more.

Rhys stared at him for a moment, a strange expression on his face as if he wasn’t really buying it. He sighed, shaking his head. 

“Okay then...well, I’m done for the night. I think I made a good dent on this code. Another couple hours and I think we might be good to go. God, I can’t wait to get back to Atlas. I don’t even want to think about how much of a shit show it is up there right now without me. The emails and phone calls alone…”

“Ah, yes...that's good. I’m looking forward to being able to get my ECHOeye up and running again. Surely I’ve missed a lot too.” 

Katagawa frowned, his heart beating a little faster at the thought of Rhys back up at Atlas _without_ him. 

_Rhys will leave you too, if you’re not careful,_ the little voice whispered quietly in the back of his mind. 

“You sure you’re ok, Kat? I didn’t mess something up in there did I?” Rhys asked, cupping the younger man’s cheek in his hand, tilting his head to the side to examine his ECHOport. 

Katagawa just leaned into his touch, gazing up at Rhys intently. 

“No, everything’s going to be fine,” Katagawa said firmly, his eyes meeting the older man’s, projecting confidence he didn’t really feel at the moment. 

“I’ll make sure of it.” 

* * *

The next couple of days continued on much the same as the last. They would search for more food and supplies during the day, then return to the little cave while Rhys plugged into his port and worked on decoding in the evenings. Finally, they’d curl up together for warmth on the pile of old blankets by the fire and sleep when Rhys got too tired to keep working. 

They lay there again tonight and Katagawa couldn’t seem to fall asleep yet, his mind racing with overactive thoughts. 

Katagawa still yearned to get back to Maliwan, to his clean clothing, personal chefs, and most urgently the party on the Zanara to get revenge on his siblings, to get back to his new job in his father’s company ... but he had to admit part of him liked settling into a little domestic routine down on Pandora with only Rhys for company.

If he was infatuated with the idea of knowing Rhys before...now that he actually got to properly meet and spend time with the older man, he knew he had made the right choice in bringing Rhys to his ship. 

Katagawa felt himself tumbling straight into full-fledged obsession with Rhys… but he also felt utterly powerless to stop it. Though he usually felt out of control and anxiety ridden when he got infatuated with someone…. Rhys brought out something in him that even Jeremy or any other old boyfriends had never even gotten close to. Katagawa felt this was a whole new level. Rhys was _perfect_. 

He shuffled closer to the older man, pressing his cheek into Rhys’s chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart. Rhys simply snuffled in response, his breathing slow and relaxed in sleep. 

Katagawa looked up at Rhys’s slack expression, feeling his own heart beat in his chest as if it were about to burst. Yes, Rhys would be his.

 _Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys Rhys_ that little voice in his head echoed again, louder and louder the more he thought about it until Katagawa was actively resisting the urge to just say it aloud and wake the older man. 

Katagawa told himself they would be together if it was the last thing he did. He just had to convince Rhys they were meant to be before they got back to Maliwan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I hope the backstory about Katagawa's family made sense. I wanted to delve into more reasoning for how his inferiority complex originates and how it conflicts with his ego. Also, I had to google so many Japanese baby names for the Katagawa siblings... I'm pretty sure google thinks I'm pregnant now
> 
> Hopefully you guys like the first name I chose for Katagawa seeing as I doubt we're going to get anything canon for him. According to my research, "Kuro" is typically the name given the the ninth son in a family, but because Katagawa is named after his father (who let's assume was the ninth son in his family), it works. I liked the way it sounded together with his family name so I went with that.
> 
> Secondly, I decided to leave it open ended if Katagawa's past boyfriend and school friends survived or not, so you can decide for yourselves. Either way, I wanted to show the more violent and extreme aspects of his personality developing in childhood and how his parents don't get him any help when he clearly needs it, as well as showing his disordered attachment style and fear of abandonment taking shape.
> 
> Please comment to let me know what you think! Thank you for reading :)


	8. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katagawa remembers the first time he learned about Rhys, then works on his plan to make Rhys his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional chapter warnings: sexual content, implied/referenced child abuse

Katagawa still remembered the first time he learned about Rhys. 

He was eighteen, seated outside his father’s office waiting for a meeting when he spotted a _Promethea Herald_ magazine left on the coffee table. 

Out of utter boredom, he leaned over to flip through it and paused when he saw the cover. 

_NEW ATLAS CEO RHYS STRONGFORK RAISES CORPORATION FROM THE ASHES_ the headline read, in clean block text. 

Katagawa’s eyes nearly bulged at the glossy, full-page photo. This _Rhys Strongfork_ stood confidently, shoulders back and arms folded, hip leaning against his desk. The rebranded Atlas logo was painted on the wall behind him. Katagawa’s eyes were instantly drawn to the man’s smirking lips, then to the side of his temple where a cybernetic port was embedded. Rhys’s right eye glowed a vibrant amber in contrast to his warm brown one, and Katagawa felt his heart rate rise at the way it felt like the CEO was looking right through the page and directly at _him_. 

Katagawa swallowed, following the sharp line of the man's cheekbones, down to where his black button up shirt is undone in a daring v-shape to expose a teasing amount of tattooed collarbone. 

Katagawa examined the blue markings curiously, then continued looking to the well-fitted slate black suit jacket to where he saw a silver robotic limb poked free at the cuff. Katagawa was surprised to see the new CEO had _two_ cybernetic implants. From what Katagawa has heard, the ECHOeye surgery alone had a high complication rate, but he admitted the combined look was very striking. He wondered, had the man been in an accident? Or had he chosen to get the implants? 

Next, Katagawa’s grey eyes traced down the man’s long legs, the thin red pinstripe pattern making them look even more elongated. Katagawa was surprised to realize he was practically panting examining the photo, and he leaned forward, rapidly flipping through the magazine to find the full article about the CEO. He had to know _more_. 

He barely heard his name being called, and his mind was elsewhere throughout the entire meeting with his father. For once, he couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed by the too simple tasks his father entrusted him, too focused on finding out more about the new Atlas CEO that’s had captured his attention. 

After the meeting, he rushed back to his office, brushing aside his open projects to thoroughly search the ECHOnet for any information he can about Rhys. 

Katagawa discovered Rhys used to work as a simple middle manager for Hyperion but managed to essentially crash Helios right out of the sky after carrying the deceased CEO Handsome Jack in AI form in his head. Then he’d claimed Atlas for his own in an amazing coup no one had expected would really work. 

Katagawa quickly tapped on another article with one trembling, gloved finger, eyes widening in amazement as he discovers exactly what Rhys went through to bring Atlas back to life. 

Something about the way Rhys made a name for himself from almost nothing greatly appealed to something deep inside Katagawa. He knew he shouldn’t be this enraptured by someone from a rival corporation, but he flipped through more content ravenously, as if in a trance. 

Katagawa read through page after page of interviews, barely blinking. He was so completely fascinated by the man in motion as he watched the accompanying holovideos. 

When he heard the man’s voice, he decided there was something both charismatic yet boyishly charming about the way the young CEO held himself. The more videos Katagawa watched, the more he truly felt as if Rhys’s mismatched, intelligent eyes were staring at him right through the screen.

Katagawa decided then and there that he’d have to meet the new CEO for himself one day. 

* * *

Years later, Katagawa spends days huddled together in a cave on Pandora with Rhys Strongfork and nearly laughed aloud at the thrill it gave him. He’d done it, and finally met the older man. Now he just needed to make Rhys _his_. 

The problem was, Katagawa wasn’t sure _how_ to go about convincing Rhys to be his. Any relationships he had in the past, he could flaunt his wealth to impress them. Buy them anything they wanted, take them out to any restaurant or on any trip they wanted. But Rhys was already wealthy. Rhys had an entire corporation under his command. He didn’t need Katagawa’s money, and said money did them no good trapped down on a Pandoran wasteland anyways. 

Then, he thought maybe he could impress Rhys more with his sword ability...but the older man already had Zer0, protecting him back at Atlas. Katagawa burned with jealousy at the thought of that mysterious vault hunter getting to protect Rhys instead of _him_. 

That left the only other thing Katagawa knew he was good at. And well...Katagawa found out quickly as a teenager that using his body was an effective way to get what he wanted when all else failed. Surely Rhys couldn’t resist Katagawa’s seduction if what had transpired between them the other night was any indication. 

Katagawa would’ve preferred being in more control of his own appearance in order to lure Rhys into bed with him again...but he had managed it before and he could do it again. 

He looked turned his head to look where the older man sat across from him and intently focused on the code pulled up on his cybernetic palm. 

The fact was, Katagawa was running out of time. If Rhys decoded the block on his ECHOeye before Katagawa could earn his affection, all of the trouble he had been through to capture the older man would be for nothing. He had to get Rhys to be his before they could head back to Maliwan in time for the Calypsos to kill his siblings on the Zanara. Katagawa was convinced he could have his cake and eat it too if he tried hard enough. 

Besides, seducing the older man was hardly a chore. If anything, Katagawa had been rather desperate himself to take things further with Rhys since the blowjob the other night. 

Katagawa bit his lip, taking a calming breath to compose himself, before sliding into the older man’s lap smoothly. 

“ _Rhys_.” He purred, placing both hands on the older man’s chest and slowly sliding them up to his shoulders. The wire connecting Rhys’s arm to his port pulled taut as Katagawa leaned in to nuzzle his jaw. 

“Kat? What are you doing? I’ve almost got this one bit decoded...” Rhys frowned, eyes wide with surprise at the sudden lapful of amorous Maliwan executive. 

“You’ve been working so hard, why not take a little break?” Katagawa whispered against the older man’s jaw. 

“I’ve still got a lot to do today, Kat...” Rhys said, though the way his breath caught in his throat as Katagawa nibbled his neck told Katagawa all he needed to know. It was working. It _always_ worked. 

“Mm, you can do that later…why don’t you let me take care of you for a little, Rhys?” Katagawa pressed, voice low. 

Katagawa sensed the Atlas CEO needed a little more convincing. He licked down the man’s jaw to his neck, pressing slick, biting kisses to the older man’s neck tattoo and grinning to himself as he heard Rhys’s answering moan. 

“I’ll make it worth your while, I promise,” Katagawa purred, fingers sliding to the older man’s belt buckle. He tapped the Atlas logo engraved in the metal buckle playfully. 

“So why don’t you go ahead and unplug that wire from my head and let’s do something a little more fun?”

“Fuck, _Katagawa_.” Rhys sighed, closing the projection on his palm and tugging the wire from the younger man’s port roughly. 

Katagawa shivered at the strange feeling of the prong leaving his port, before composing himself and turning lusty eyes towards the older man.

“You’re _very_ distracting, you know.” Rhys admonished, meeting Katagawa’s gaze head on. 

Katagawa only smirked in response, pleased with himself for attracting the older man’s attention. He leaned in, and their lips met in a hungry, wet kiss that was more tongue and teeth than lips. 

“Maybe I like being your distraction, Rhys.” Katagawa panted when he finally pulled back for breath.

“I can see that, Kat.” Rhys purred, sliding his hands down the younger man’s body teasingly before resting both on Katagawa’s thin waist where he gave it a firm squeeze. 

Katagawa felt warm all over at the touch, excited to finally have Rhys’s hands back on him. He reached up, starting on the buttons of his own shirt, tugging them apart and sliding it off his shoulders, eager to expose his naked body to the object of his obsession again. 

Rhys helped him free of the green fabric before putting one of his hands back onto the younger man’s waist, his cybernetic fingers cold on Katagawa’s heated skin. Rhys traced the line of Katagawa’s tattoo visible from the front of his body with his flesh hand, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake between sloppy kisses. 

Katagawa moaned, grinding his half hard erection down into the older man’s lap, pleased to feel the older man’s answering hardness meeting his own. 

His own breathing began to pick up, excited to be so close to Rhys’s perfect cock for the second time. He forced himself to take a steadying breath, trying to not get overwhelmed again. This was about seducing _Rhys_ , not about his own desperation after all.

“Rhys, how do you want it? You can have me any way you like,” Katagawa breathed, sliding his own hands to start removing the older man’s shirt. He tossed it behind them somewhere, leaning back down to kiss and suck at a newly exposed nipple. The older man whimpered as Katagawa blew on the wet skin playfully, watching with fascination as the flesh hardened into a stiff peak. 

“Ah, shit, Kat…” Rhys groaned.

“Come on, you want me to suck you again?” Katagawa asked, kissing down the older man’s soft tummy slowly until he reached the line of Rhys’s slacks. He shifted back in Rhys’s lap so he could undo the slacks, slowly tugging down the zipper until the older man’s erection spung free. He leaned down, pressing a wet kiss the the swollen length. 

Katagawa grinned, tugging the older man’s underwear and slacks down and throwing them out of the way. He shoved the older man’s long legs aside, making room for himself between them.

“Or, maybe…” Katagawa began, leaning down to bite at one of those slender thighs, relishing in the older man’s pleasured groan. “Maybe you want me to hike these beautiful legs over my shoulders and make you _scream_ for me.” 

“ _Katagawa_ …” Rhys gasped, spreading his legs a little more, his pupils blown wide with arousal as he gazed down at the younger man. 

“Fuck, I want that, but...we don’t have any lube, baby…and uh, no offence but I’m not walking around the desert after you going in raw, I mean...” Rhys frowned, two spots of red high on his cheeks. 

Katagawa just smiled, flashing perfectly white teeth at the older man, reaching into the pocket of his slacks, dropping Maliwan-branded foil packets of lube and a condom on Rhys’s chest triumphantly. He had never been more glad he had come straight from the Zanara before this whole debacle. 

“Uh...do I want to know _why_ you have that?” Rhys asked, raising a teasing eyebrow at Katagawa. 

Katagawa spared a passing thought to the man he had fucked days ago while pretending he was Rhys. It seemed like a lifetime ago now.

“Probably not. But it’s coming in handy now, isn’t it?” 

“Well, go on then, Kat, show me what you’ve got. You are so lucky I’m letting you put Maliwan-branded anything in my ass.” Rhys snickered. 

Katagawa was determined to bring out all his tricks to show Rhys a good time. He leaned down, pushing the older man down a little further onto his back and spreading the CEO’s thighs about his shoulders. He smirked at the surprised yelp the action got as he spread Rhys’s round cheeks to expose the tight pink furl of the older man’s hole. 

“You’re even perfect back here, Rhys,” Katagawa purred, leaning in and getting to work, his tongue firm and slick against Rhys’s entrance. He hummed, the older man’s moans and shaky whimpers edging him on as he blew air on the wet, quivering pucker. 

“Fuck, that’s good!” Rhys whimpered, reaching down to tug Katagawa’s hair and pulling him in even closer between his long legs. Katagawa huffed eagerly as he felt the older man’s legs tightening around his neck and shoulders. 

Katagawa whined, leaning back a little to coat his own finger in saliva before easing the tip of it next to his tongue as the older man’s hole started to loosen against Katagawa’s expert ministrations. 

“Is that good, Rhys?” Katagawa asked, pulling back a little to tear open the foil packet, coating his gloved fingers liberally in the slippery substance before teasing the entrance to the older man’s hole with them. He was grateful for the protective coating on his gloves, so at least the thin, bespoke leather wouldn’t get ruined by this.

“Yes, you’re good, you _know_ you’re good, c’mon and use your fingers already, you cocky brat,” Rhys bit out, a whine caught in the back of his throat as he pouted down at Katagawa. 

Rhys’s pout quickly shifted into a pleasured expression as Katagawa shoved his thigh back a little wider and nudged two long fingers into the older man. 

“Yes, more!” Rhys growled as Katagawa’s experienced fingers went straight for his prostate before starting to stretch the tight walls of his insides. 

Katagawa bit his lip, his own cock throbbing hard in his pants as he watched the older man’s body succumb to the pleasure Katagawa’s fingers were bringing him. _Rhys looks so good like this,_ he thought heatedly. _I want to make him look like this every day._

“You’re so beautiful like this, Rhys,” Katagawa blurted out, unable to help himself. 

Rhys just whined in response to the praise, hips bucking and red high on his cheeks as his muscles quivered around the younger man’s fingers. 

“A-Ah _fuck_...c’mon, hurry up and get your pants off, Kat.” Rhys sighed, squeezing the younger man with his legs again, leaning over to reach for the discarded lube packet. 

Katagawa bit his lip, relieved, as his own erection was nearly painful in the confines of his pants at this point, especially as the older man ordered him around. 

He hurried to undo his pants, freeing his cock to the cool air of the cave. Katagawa couldn’t help the eager whine that escaped his mouth as the older man’s hand immediately reached forward and gripped his throbbing cock, rolling the condom on with experienced fingers. He squeezed the rest of the lube packet onto the tip and gave Katagawa a firm stroke to coat his dick evenly. 

“C’mon, I want this inside of me _now_.” Rhys demanded. 

Katagawa let out a shaky breath, reaching down and forcing himself to concentrate on easing the head of his cock into the older man’s hole. He huffed, eyebrows drawing together at the tight grip of Rhys’s muscles around his swollen cock, slowly easing himself in. In all honesty, it had been a while since he was the penetrative partner and he wanted to do this _right_.

Rhys apparently wasn’t having it slow, because the next thing Katagawa knew, Rhys had pulled Katagawa all the way in, grabbing him by the ass and thighs tight on the older man’s sides. 

“I said, I wanted this inside me, _now_. Don’t make me wait,” Rhys growled in his ear. 

Katagawa groaned, his hips jerking forward in surprise as his throbbing length was suddenly fully encased in the older man’s body. 

Rhys groaned, pleased. “Yeah, that’s good, Kat...” 

Katagawa bit his lip, forcing himself to concentrate as he smoothly eased the older man’s thighs back to his shoulders, grinning at the CEO’s pleased moan at the change in position, his cock sinking in even deeper into the warm clutch of Rhys’s insides. 

“Well, you wanted me to make you scream, right?” Katagawa teased, hungry eyes roaming over the older man’s disheveled appearance.

“Try your best, Maliwan,” Rhys retorted, gazing up at Katagawa with dilated, mismatched eyes that belied his true arousal despite his cocky tone.

Katagawa smirked back playfully, tightening his grip on the older man’s hips and starting a punishing rhythm with his own. It was now obvious Rhys didn’t want gentle right now. 

“A-Ah! Fuck, yes, like _that_ ,” Rhys cried, tilting his head back as Katagawa repeatedly slammed his cock into the hot, quivering squeeze of his hole. 

Katagawa huffed, flicking back dark, sweaty hair from falling into his eyes as he focused on angling his cock to brush the older man’s prostate. He knew he had found the right angle when Rhys suddenly sobbed, his face going slack with pleasure. 

“There?” Katagawa panted, easing Rhys’s hips back on his cock, gloves hands so tight on the older man’s hips he’s sure he’d leave finger-shaped bruises. Katagawa liked the idea of that, his own cock throbbing inside of his partner. 

“Ah! Don’t you f-fucking stop, Kat!” Rhys urged, voice shaky and rising in pitch as he slid his cybernetic hand up to squeeze harshly at Katagawa’s firm ass cheek again as the younger man continued to pound his cock inside of him. 

Katagawa groaned at the touch, the muscles of his hips, back and slim torso contracting and straining as he maintained the demanding pace for his lover. He let his own eyes slide half shut with pleasure, the tight squeeze of the CEO’s insides and the sound of Rhys’s pleased whimpering driving him closer to his own orgasm. 

He reached down, shoving away Rhys’s flesh hand which had been easing towards the older man’s erection to grasp the hard flesh himself. The older man’s cock had been drooling a steady stream of precum from the internal stimulation and it made the erect flesh slide easily within the tight squeeze of Katagawa’s gloved fist. 

“O-Oh, yes, please, Kat!” Rhys shouted, tossing his head back at the stimulation on both ends as the younger man continued his harsh assault on his prostate. 

The older man words devolved into wordless shouts and whimpers of pleasure after that, matched by Katagawa’s own eager, panting moans as he worked to maintain the demanding pace for Rhys’s pleasure. 

“F-Fuck, _Kat!_ ” Rhys shouted as the younger man’s relentless pace fucked him to orgasm.

Rhys dug his metal fingers into the flesh of Katagawa’s backside again, squeezing tightly, arching into Katagawa’s still stroking fist as his cock shot pulse after pulse of hot come between them. Rhys gasped, thighs trembling with the force of his orgasm. 

“ _Rhys!_ I-I’m… _!_ ” Katagawa whimpered, burying his face into the older man’s shoulder as his own hips began to stutter out of rhythm, rutting forward as he was finally able to chase after his own orgasm in Rhys’s tight, fluttering hole now that the older man had come. 

“I want you to come for me, _now_.” Rhys demanded, his voice fucked-out and languid as the younger man used his body. 

Katagawa nearly shouted at the demand, muffling his loud cry in the CEO’s shoulder as his cock spurted hard inside of the condom, hips rutting forwardly sloppily with each powerful pulse of come. _Rhys Rhys Rhys_ his mind echoed dizzily as he collapsed on top of the older man, harsh panting the only thing coming out of his pleasure slacked lips.

“Oof,” Rhys laughed tiredly as he took the brunt of the taller man’s weight. 

“Did I kill you, Maliwan? Feel like it should be the other way around with the way you just railed me into the floor of this cave...” he chuckled, petting Katagawa’s flank as the older man trembled above him. He eased the younger man’s hips back with his stronger cybernetic arm, wincing as Katagawa’s slowly softening cock slipped from the loosened grip of his hole, a rush of lube dripping down onto the blankets. 

Katagawa bit his lip, quickly discarding the used condom, then rolling off of the older man and laying on his back as he tried to catch his breath. God, Rhys was amazing.

“Rhys...” Katagawa huffed dumbly, his mind still slow with pleasure as he turned to gaze at the older man with what he was sure was a blatantly smitten expression. “Made you scream though, just like I promised..” 

Rhys laughed again, his eyes crinkling at the corners in the way that Katagawa was fascinated by. 

“All this to distract me from coding. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you wanted us to stay stranded down here on this shithole,” Rhys teased. 

Katagawa rolled closer, nuzzling into the older man’s neck then pressing a kiss to his thundering pulse point. They lay there for a while, recovering slowly.

“Of course not. If you thought _that_ was nice, wait ‘till I show you my private room on the Zanara when we’re back on my ship together, Rhys. I promise that it’ll be even better on an actual bed,” Katagawa replied, his teasing tone belying the way he was actually carefully watching for the older man’s reaction to what he had just said. 

“You’re like a dog with a bone when you want something, huh?” Rhys replied, but the way his mismatched eyes softened as he gazed down at Katagawa filled the younger man with joy. 

“Heard that before,” Katagawa mumbled against the older man’s neck, pleased. He drummed his fingers up Rhys’s chest playfully. 

The older man groaned at the lube-sticky leather, reaching out to stop him. 

“I can’t believe you really wore these things to bed, Kat. Won’t you let me take these off of you? Surely they need to be cleaned now?” Rhys asked.

Katagawa furrowed his brow, stiffening as the older man fiddled with the leather. 

He shook his head, though it was difficult to protest, when Rhys touched him so gently. This was what he had wanted, wasn’t it? To be closer to Rhys?

“W-Well, yes, but I…” Katagawa stuttered, biting his lip anxiously. Maybe he could...he didn’t really want to, but he also really wanted to please the older man. 

Maybe _this_ was the key to getting Rhys to trust him? He just hoped when Rhys saw how ugly his hands were, he wouldn’t find him...undesirable. He decided to take the risk though nerves roiled his stomach. This was for _them_ , after all.

“Ah, look, nevermind,” Rhys backpedaled, “Clearly it makes you uncomfortable, I shouldn’t have pried…” 

“No–it’s...fine. I’ll let you, I suppose.” Katagawa interrupted the older man, tugging at the thin leather and placing the gloves behind him neatly to be cleaned later. He could do this for _Rhys_. He sighed, feeling exposed, both literally and figuratively as he held his hands for the older man to see. He tried not to fidget as the Atlas CEO silently examined him.

“Oh shit, Kat...” Rhys said quietly, reaching out and gripping the younger man’s hands in his own. “This...this must have been very painful.” 

Katagawa bit his lip, looking down at the scarred and burned texture of the skin on his hands. He shrugged, going for nonchalance when he felt nothing but. 

“It’s nothing, it’s just an old childhood...injury. I did something stupid, and my older brother thought it would be a good lesson to not let me get me cosmetic surgery for them, so they’ve never healed quite right. They’re ugly, that’s all, so I keep them covered.” 

Rhys just furrowed his brow, a strange expression on his face Katagawa thought might be bordering between affection and discomfort. 

“You’re not _ugly_...it’s not my business to judge, really, but sounds like what happened to you as a kid was pretty awful. What I mean is...thank you for trusting me with seeing your hands, Katagawa.” 

Katagawa blinked, surprised to feel hot tears gathering in the corner of his eyes at the older man’s easy acceptance of what he considered to be his worst feature. He swallowed the lump in his throat, tugging the threadbare blanket over them to hide his scarred hands from view. He’d clean his gloves tomorrow.

“It’s nothing, let’s just sleep.” Katagawa repeated, hiding his face in the older man’s chest before he could notice the tears.

Rhys just sighed, running a hand through Katagawa’s hair before falling silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it doesn't seem as if they're moving "too fast", but I wanted to show that because of Katagawa's distorted self image, he equates a lot of his own worth from sex. So in his mind, if he can seduce Rhys sexually, he can make Rhys love him. 
> 
> also...when you're trapped in the desert but still have lube stashed in your pockets...katagawa pls


	9. Corrosion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katagawa has nightmares about his past. Luckily, Rhys is there to comfort him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the additional warnings for this chapter: graphic descriptions of an injury/disfigurement, several instances of vomiting, depictions of childhood abuse

Katagawa supposed it was inevitable he’d dream about the accident with his hands after showing them to Rhys for the first time. 

Katagawa was fourteen years old, back home on summer vacation from school, when Kaito first got promoted to executive director of R&D. His older brother had been heavily applauded for his contributions on the new line of corrosive SMGs and it was all anyone would ever talk about for _days._

Katagawa was extremely jealous about the whole thing, watching his oldest brother parade around the hallways with his entourage of associates, new assistants, and even being personally commended by their father for his ideas when it was clear how much the new line of weapons was improving the company’s sales. 

He watched bitterly from the sidelines as new commercials came out from the advertising department about the guns and they were played on all the screens around Maliwan HQ. Katagawa didn’t know much about guns yet, as he was forbidden from them until he began his lessons next year, but he did know he _really_ hated his oldest brother. Katagawa was sure his contributions couldn’t have been _that_ good. Kaito had probably paid someone to do all the hard work then stole the limelight for himself. 

One day, when all his older siblings were out celebrating, Katagawa was forced to stay behind because as his sister Yuko said, he was the only one “ _too young to go to these kinds of parties, little Junior_.” 

Katagawa fumed as he paced the hallways. He wasn’t a _child_ anymore, as much as everyone else still liked to act like he was. 

What was the big deal about some stupid upgrade to a gun that _already_ shot acid anyways? Katagawa was sure he could’ve come up with whatever it was that Kaito had done if everyone just stopped treating him like a kid and let him learn about the tech too. 

Katagawa suddenly stood straighter. _There_ was an idea. He would steal the gun, come up with his own upgrade, then everyone would acknowledge he was just as good as Kaito was. With that in mind, Katagawa strode down the hallways towards his older brother’s office. 

He knew that Kaito kept a version of the SMG in question in his display cabinet there. Katagawa just had to get into the cabinet and he could go from there.

When he got to the office, it was just a matter of charming his older brother’s secretary into letting him in. As he got older, Katagawa discovered he was very good at getting certain adults to listen to him if he batted his eyelashes and lowered his voice a certain way. Kaito’s secretary had always been particularly susceptible to his whims.

“Brother sent me to get him something he forgot for the party, Miss, it’s very important,” Katagawa implored, his eyes wide and innocent as he gazed up at the young woman seated at the desk outside Kaito’s office. “Please, would you let me in?” 

That taken care of, Katagawa entered the older man’s unlocked office, making a beeline for the trophy case where the SMG was currently sitting under a bright spotlight. He reached forward, unlatching the case and pulling the gun out carefully. 

The gun hummed to life in his hands, Maliwan orange and blue paint job vibrant and glossy to the touch as he stroked a finger across it reverently. He had to admit, it _was_ a beautiful gun. 

Katagawa had never actually held one of these before, and he was surprised by how light it was in his hands. He had expected something heavier.

Katagawa smirked as his fingers found the trigger. Maybe he’d give it a little test run before stealing it. Too bad if one of his older brother’s stupid trophies got melted down in the process. He squeezed the trigger firmly, frowning to himself as the gun buzzed in his hands but nothing happened. 

He furrowed his brow, squeezing it again, and _again_ , to no avail. The gun made a loud humming sound but refused to fire. He huffed, frustrated, turning the gun over to look for some sort of hidden button or something else he’d missed. Why wasn’t the stupid thing firing? Could his brother’s “amazing” achievement really be defective? Some part of Katagawa hoped so. If it was, he’d expose it and reap the benefits.

He found a small button near the trigger, flicking it and yelping with surprise as the SMG suddenly jerked in his hands, green acid exploding from the barrel. He dropped the gun onto the case below him, but it was too late, as the corrosive goo had already splattered all over his hands. Katagawa stared down at the horrible green mess on his shaking hands in utter shock, and then suddenly the burning started. He stumbled back, dropping onto his behind and screeching in distress as the acid started to melt into the smooth flesh of his hands as if it were thin tissue paper. 

“H-Help! _Please_!” Katagawa shouted, watching his skin burn back in utter terror.

The pain was extremely agonizing...the worst thing he had ever felt. Katagawa could barely breathe through the horrible searing sensation coming from his hands and the nauseating smell of his own melting flesh. He rolled over just in time to vomit acrid bile all over the shiny clean floor of his sibling’s office. 

The last thing he thought before he blacked out from the pain, was _brother is going to kill me_. 

* * *

The next time Katagawa woke up after the incident in his brother’s office, he was lying prone in a stiff hospital bed. He was feeling sluggish and pained as he blinked up at the white ceiling, various machines beeping around him. He realized his hands must’ve been bandaged as his nurse went about various tests of his vitals, mentioning how the rest of the treatment could proceed now that he was awake, that soon he was due for his next dose of painkillers. Katagawa focused on the nurse’s calm, steady voice to quell his rapidly rising anxiety and the pain throbbing in his hands.

Suddenly there was a commotion at the door and Katagawa looked up shakily to see the imposing frame of his eldest brother frowning at him from the doorway. Katagawa panicked, trying to sit up only to yelp in pain as he tried to use his heavily bandaged hands to steady himself. 

“Get out! I would like a word with my brother, alone.” Kaito Katagawa snapped at the nurse, watching with cold, dark eyes as the man scrambled out the door, leaving the brothers alone in the room. The room felt like it had just dropped several degrees even if Katagawa was still bundled under the thick hospital blankets. 

He turned the same harsh gaze on his younger brother and Katagawa froze like a skag caught in headlights, trying not to tremble from both the pain of his hands and Kaito’s furious expression. 

“What were you thinking, breaking into my office and _playing_ around with my gun? Do you think my achievements are a _game_?” Kaito said callously, looking down his nose at Katagawa as if the boy was nothing more than a dead insect on the bottom of his designer shoes. Katagawa recognized the expression as one their father often adopted, though the realization was of little comfort to him. It was just as terrifying. 

“Kaito! I just..I mean...the nurse mentioned I could be fixed easily, just need some plastic surgery on my hands? We have the best surgeons here, right? Father doesn’t even have to know...” Katagawa tried, the words feeling as if they were caught in his throat, choked into submission by his brother’s fury. He hated himself for being so scared of his eldest brother right then. 

“Silence, Kuro!” Kaito roared, and Katagawa shrank back against the hospital bed with wide eyes. 

His brother darted forward suddenly, grabbing one of Katagawa’s injured hands and ripping the stark white bandages from the burned skin without care for how they tore from the raw flesh. 

“Look at what you’ve done to yourself! What would father think if he found out you’ve gone and ruined _Maliwan property_ like this? You’re lucky he’s a very busy man and doesn’t have time to keep tabs on you right now. You get _me_ instead.” Kaito snarled. 

Katagawa’s vision blurred at the sudden onslaught of agony from the fresh wound, as well as the hurtful words, biting down on his lip harshly to muffle himself. 

“No, please, don’t tell him….” Katagawa managed to bite out. 

He tried to stop trembling so hard, blinking through the tears that had formed in his eyes as he stared down at the horrible burns on his skin. Katagawa thought he might be sick...though from pain, fear, shame or at the gruesome sight, he couldn’t tell. 

“You acted mindlessly and you will learn your actions have consequences. I won’t tell him, on the condition that you will look at your _ugly_ scarred hands every day and remember never to go about touching what isn’t _yours_ , Kuro. I’ll be instructing the nurse not to give you anything to reduce the scarring, and just to have our doctors repair the _internal_ damage. If I find out you went behind my back and tried to fix this, I’ll tell father, then you’ll really regret he ever slept with _your_ whore of a mother. Is that clear, you little bastard?” Kaito growled. 

Katagawa nodded quickly, barely able to look up as he attempted to contain his tears from spilling over. No, _don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry not in front of him,_ reverberated in his mind.

“I said, is that _clear_? Look at me and respond properly when you’re spoken to! You know by the men and women in our family do not cower and cry...even someone with only half of our father’s blood like you! Are you really going to act this pathetic something you did to yourself? Father would be ashamed if he saw you sniveling like this! You’re barely worthy of the mark on the back of your neck as it is!” his brother roared, squeezing the smaller injured hand roughly within his larger one as if to make a point. 

“Yes! Yes, _clear_ , Kaito!” Katagawa forced out, forcing himself to maintain solid eye contact as he swallowed back the acrid taste of his own bile. The tattoo on the back of his neck felt as if it was burning, despite having healed years ago. 

The tear that slid down his cheek in spite of his struggling felt as if it was burning on his skin with the immense shame and anger at himself of having screwed up so badly. 

“Good. Now, you’ve already wasted too much of my time today. I better not hear you have caused any more trouble during this very busy time for me and the company. It’s bad enough I have to waste _my_ time cleaning up _your_ messes so father doesn’t. It’s time to fall in line, little _bastard_ , before you become even more defective than you already are.” Kaito growled, dropping his youngest brother’s shaking hand to the bed roughly and turning to leave without another word. 

“Yes, sir.” Katagawa choked at his brother’s retreating back.

The second his brother’s footsteps echoed out of the hallway and he was sure he was out of range, Katagawa leaned over the side of the bed and gagged up bile all over the shiny tiles of the hospital floor, tears finally streaming down his face freely now that no one was around to see them.

* * *

In the long, painful weeks it took his hands to heal following the incident, after days of being poked and prodded with needles, Katagawa spent most of his time sequestered away back at school in his dorm room, even if it’s the beginning of the school year. He had his hands wrapped constantly in bandages or stuck in his pockets on the rare occasion he did have to leave the room. He has his assignments brought to him, claiming he was out with some sort of terrible flu, and his acquaintances don’t question it when they could find another rich son to mooch off of instead. 

It’s already been weeks of painful recovery by the time someone from his family _does_ comes to check on him again. Katagawa hopes dearly this doesn’t mean his father found out about his _mistake_. 

It’s his sister Naoko who knocked on his dorm room door, and Katagawa was reluctant to answer it, having spent most of the past couple of weeks alone to lick at his wounds in private, ashamed of what he had done. When he did finally get up to unlock it, she pushed her way into the room before he could even get the door open all the way. 

“Hello, brother,” she greeted.

In her hand, she held a slim black box. Naoko stood in front of him in his entryway, watching him with a careful eye. She was a couple years older than him, but she barely reached his shoulder when they stood across from each other like this. Katagawa has grown very tall, especially in the last year or so. More of his absent mother’s genetics rearing their heads, Katagawa was beginning to suspect. 

“What do you want? Since when do you visit me in my room?” Katagawa asked, shoving his bandages hands deep into the pocket of his pants. He doesn’t know what to say to her, really. They attended the same private school, because they were so close in age, but they rarely talked much outside of family functions. 

“I don’t, but.” Naoko frowned. She looked uncomfortable? In pain, maybe. He can’t read what her expression means. 

“Kuro,” Naoko said, almost in a whisper. “I….I heard what happened. Kaito told me about the... accident.” 

“He told you to come check on me, you mean,” Katagawa surmised, bitterly. “To make sure I haven’t gone behind his back.” 

“Look,” Naoko sighed, shoving the box against his chest. “Just take these.” 

Katagawa frowned, pulling his hands from his pockets to grab the box. Fortunately, he’s regained most of the mobility in the digits of his hands by now thanks to his father’s surgeons. It’s just the outside skin that is still ... _ruined_. 

He pushed back the lid to find a pair of matte black leather gloves. He can’t feel them through his bandages, but they look thin and soft, and smell new. 

“I know we haven’t talked much lately, but...I’m sorry about what happened to your hands,” Naoko said, when Katagawa just stared at the gloves in silence. 

“So...what are these? Pity gift? Something for your poor, disfigured little brother, before you go report back to Kaito that I’ve fallen in line? God forbid he steps off his high horse to come see me himself when he could just send _you_ to do it!” Katagawa snarled. 

“No! Well, _yes_ he sent me, but I just...just take them, brother! You’ll feel better if you wear them…you can’t hide in here forever...people at school are starting to talk, you know...” Naoko argued. 

“Right, cover it up, _hide_ it, just like we do with everything else _wrong_ in this family!” Katagawa shouted, suddenly furious. He threw the box and both gloves across the room as hard as he could, not caring if they hit his sister or not. 

Naoko flinched back, narrowly avoiding the projectile, before standing her ground and glaring at him harshly. “Hey! You know, I’m just trying to help you, Kuro!” Naoko shouted in return. 

“I don’t need your pity! And I certainly don’t need your help. You’ve done what you’ve needed to. Just get out, leave here and go run back to Kaito.” Katagawa growled, turning his back so he didn’t have to look at her. He doesn’t want to watch as her expression changed into something else: pity, or worse, fear. 

“You know maybe one day you’ll acknowledge... I’m _stuck_ in this family just as much as you are, Kuro.” Naoko replied, voice shaky before she quickly turned and left, slamming the door after her.

Katagawa let himself drop to the floor then, staring down at his shaking hands and breathing heavily as he held back sobs. 

He slowly unraveled the bandages from his hands. What he saw underneath still made him want to be sick. 

He’s disgusting. 

* * *

Katagawa jerked awake, not in the hospital, or his old dorm room, but back in the cave on Pandora in the middle of the night, untangling his limbs from his bed partner’s and urgently stumbling outside of the cave in a rush as he expelled whatever remained undigested from their earlier dinner. He trembled, his body jerking violently and pouring sweat as he heaved brutally. 

He sat back when he felt his stomach was finally empty, wiping at his mouth with a trembling hand. His _ungloved_ hand. Katagawa’s stomach gave another lurch at the sight, but he had nothing left to spit up but bitter bile. 

“Katagawa? What’s wrong, are you sick?” Rhys called, voice rough with sleep as he stumbled out of bed after him and set a heavy metal hand on the younger man’s back. 

Katagawa just flinched from the touch, staring at the bare skin of his own disfigured hands in the moonlight in shock. Where were his _gloves_? He needed his gloves!

 _Ugly ugly ugly foolish little bastard imperfect ruined_ , the voice in his head shouted at him all at once, a high pitched ringing echoing in his ears as he panicked. 

“G-Gloves...where…” he choked out, feeling as if he couldn’t suck in enough oxygen.

The hand on his back disappeared, but Katagawa barely noticed the older man leaving and returning over the sound of his loud panicked breathing until Rhys was pressing something into his shaking hands. 

Katagawa looked down, dazed, at the familiar sight of his black leather gloves, the smooth leather a stark contrast to the rough texture of his scars. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, look, Kat... I just cleaned them off for you, let’s put them on…” Rhys said nervously, gently helping Katagawa’s trembling fingers into the butter-soft leather. 

Katagawa blinked rapidly, his vision blurring in relief as the damaged skin was covered with the older man’s help. 

“Good, uh, good, _oh fuck, I’m no good at this_... now take some deep breaths for me, Kat...you, you need to breathe properly, I think you’re having a panic attack or something!” Rhys said, warm flesh hand moving on the younger man’s upper back in slow, comforting strokes.

He took in several shaking breaths at the older man’s insistence, feeling the panic start to receed slightly after several long minutes as he stared at his gloved hands in relief. 

“I-I’m sorry, I...had...about my hands...” Katagawa slurred as the embarrassment began to set in. 

Fuck, he’d made a massive fool of himself in front of _Rhys_. Suddenly exhausted, he slumped forward into the older man’s shoulder like a puppet with its strings cut, gripping Rhys’s shirt in his fist. 

“Don’t be disgusted…” Katagawa begged, though he was disgusted with himself for how he was currently behaving. He was going to ruin all his hard work with Rhys just because he couldn’t stop having nightmares about things from years ago, like a pathetic child.

 _Stupid stupid stupid ugly desperate broken he’s going to be dissapointed and leave you_ , the voice in the back of his head whispered. Katagawa gripped Rhys’s shirt even tighter as if he could physically prevent that from happening, his shaking fingers straining the expensive fabric. 

“Uh, why are you apologizing? It’s not disgusting...anyone would have nightmares about what happened to you. I feel bad now...I shouldn’t have pressured you to take your gloves off earlier.” Rhys mumbled, rubbing at the younger man’s back. 

“I just didn’t want _you_ to see me like _this_.” Katagawa bit out, laughing bitterly.

“I get it, I do...but, uh, if it makes you feel less embarrassed, I used to have some pretty terrible nightmares too, you know, about what happened to me last time I was stuck on Pandora…” Rhys whispered, voice low as if he didn’t want to startle them both out of this strange intimacy that had suddenly formed between them, more so than when they had been writhing around together on the floor earlier.

“You’re not just saying that because you pity me for looking so...pathetic, are you?” Katagawa asked, trying to stop his voice quivering. 

“Yeah...turns out having your raging psychopath boss living in your brain then accidentally killing a bunch of your coworkers is, uh, sorta traumatic, or so the therapist said! Ha.. _ha_...but sorry, I actually shouldn’t make this about me...” Rhys babbled nervously, as he ran and hand up and down the younger man’s back.

He didn’t try and stop the younger man’s desperate clinging, for which Katagawa was absurdly grateful. He didn’t think he could let go even if Rhys asked him to right now.

Katagawa frowned, pressing the side of his cheek into the older man’s chest where he could hear the older man’s quick heartbeats. He tried to focus on that instead of the terrified cacophony of thoughts echoing inside his skull.

“No, I...I’d rather hear more about you than talk about me, if I’m being completely honest.” Katagawa said.

“Uh, ok, what should I tell you about? What do you not know already, my little stalker...” Rhys joked, nudging the younger man playfully in an effort to lighten the mood a little. 

“I’m not a stalker, Rhys.” Katagawa huffed, hiding a small smile against Rhys’s chest, instantly latching onto the change of subject like a lifeline. “I just know everything publically available on the ECHOnet...in the name of research, of course. I paid good money to have a copy of each _ATLAS WEEKLY_ with your face on the cover delivered to me, you know.” 

Rhys didn’t have to know about the recordings he got from his spy, about little details like how Rhys liked his coffee or his favourite bagel place.

Rhys just snorted, mumbling something like “sounds familiar” under his breath Katagawa couldn’t completely make out before the man continued, louder.

“Totally not helping your case here, Kat. Well, I hope you got the July edition, with the facial hair grooming tips, since clearly you need them,” he teased, flesh hand rubbing at Katagawa’s smooth jaw playfully. “It’s been days and you haven’t even grown an inch of stubble! Which honestly I’m kind of jealous of...I’d _maybe_ kill a man for a razor right now.” 

Katagawa just rolled his eyes, but he pressed into the teasing touch anyways. “I’ve had laser hair removal, actually. I like _your_ facial hair, but it wouldn’t look good on me. I’d just look like my brother, which, gross...no wonder he never gets laid unless he pays for it first.” 

Rhys snorted, thumbing Katagawa’s pouty lower lip. “Well, clearly not a problem for you, huh, Kat? A regular casanova over here. Jury’s still out on the stalker thing, though. I can’t believe you’ve collected every issue! I don’t think _I_ even have every issue...okay maybe I do, but still...” 

Katagawa just grinned weakly, pressing a kiss to the older man’s thumb. He was starting to feel calmer now, his heartbeat slowing to a more reasonable pace as they talked. The relief that Rhys was not overtly disgusted with him after what had just happened was overwhelming. 

“Well, I’ve collected all the issues...I even have, the original Promethea Herald article about how you brought Atlas back from the dead, all by yourself... I’ve read it over and over. I found the magazine left on a meeting room table once and I just...kept it. It was then after I saw you and read the article... I knew I had to meet you for myself.” Katagawa explained. 

“U-Uh? Really? Oh man, you kept _that_ one?” Rhys stuttered, cheeks burning, “C’mon, I looked so awkward in that photo…ha...” 

“I thought you looked beautiful. I’d never seen someone like you before,” Katagawa purred, petting the older man’s chest. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed, Rhys.” 

Katagawa was hardly embarrassed about how voraciously he’d consumed any and all media related to Rhys.

He’d admired him for years and now that he had the older man to himself ...Rhys really was _perfect_ , Katagawa decided. The more time they spent together the more Katagawa knew he’d do anything to keep Rhys closer.

Katagawa was sure he’s never been in love before now, but what he felt for Rhys must be love. He just knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was hard to write for obvious reasons, but I hope the comfort with Rhys at the end makes up for it a bit. 
> 
> Comment your thoughts please! :) Thanks for reading!!


	10. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth comes to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: attempted self harm

Katagawa supposed their time together in the cave couldn’t last forever. The next night, as they sat by the fire while Rhys worked on the coding, the older man suddenly sat up excitedly. 

“I’m in!” he shouted, grinning triumphantly at the projection coming from his metal palm. “I still got it! Suck it, Maliwan firewalls!” 

Katagawa sat up from his vague doze on the older man’s shoulder, suddenly feeling much more awake as several notifications entered his field of vision at once as his ECHOeye reconnected itself to Maliwan’s network. His eye glowed vibrant orange, the sudden rush of information almost overwhelming after nearly a week of not using it.

He scoffed at the enormous amount of unread message notifications blaring red in the corner, trying to swipe them aside to deal with later, only to furrow his brows when he realized he couldn’t. 

“What the hell? I thought you fixed it…” he began, eyes darting towards the man plugged into his port. 

“Yeah, sorry about that, Kat…” Rhys appealed, “I could only get in by taking full control since we don’t have your ECHOpad. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to dig around in here too much...” 

“You didn’t mention anything about taking full control, Rhys.” Katagawa said with narrowed eyes, uncomfortable with the idea of not being able to use his own ECHOeye. 

“Let’s just make that call. My father’s in my contacts, open it up…” Katagawa urged when the older man didn’t respond. 

Rhys just smiled back at him in that gentle way he loved, and Katagawa paused, relaxing a little at the expression. The older man leaned in a little closer, cupping his chin, and Katagawa couldn’t help but to melt into the soft touch.

“Relax,” Rhys soothed, “I got this, Kat.” 

Katagawa was so distracted by the soothing touches and the warm timbre of the older man’s voice that he didn’t notice the unfamiliar ECHOfrequency with a Promethea area code appearing on the phone interface in the center of his vision until it was too late. He stiffened angrily, eyes going wide as he realized what the older man had just done. 

“W-What, what are you doing, Rhys? That’s not the right number!” Katagawa shouted, trying to reaching up to jerk back the wire connecting them only to be pinned back by Rhys’s metal limb, the cybernetic arm hard and unyielding as it gathered both of Katagawa’s wrists together. The older man wrapped the leather of the belt hastily discarded earlier around Katagawa’s wrists firmly as the younger man looked on in utter shock that the older man had managed to get the jump on him. 

Katagawa growled, wide eyes darting to his discarded dress pants across the room where he knew his pocket knife still was. He’d been so  _ stupid _ , it was no good to him over there! He didn’t want to hurt  _ Rhys _ , but being pinned down had always terrified him since that one afternoon with his sister as a child. He renewed his struggles, the pupil of his grey biological eye constricted to a tiny pinprick as he began to panic. 

“I’m sorry, Kat, I don’t want to do this, but this had to be done…” Rhys said, voice strained as he pinned the stunned dark haired man under his weight. 

“What are you doing? Rhys, let me go! Cancel that fucking call!  _ Stop _ !” Katagawa screeched, bucking his hips under the sudden restriction of movement. 

“I’m  _ sorry _ , just settle down!” Rhys panted as he struggled to contain Katagawa’s bucking, eyes wide and nervous as he pulled the coding interface back up on his cybernetic hand. 

He turned his head, vision narrowing on the older man’s hand as Rhys tapped away on the keyboard, another window opening in his field of vision, the code flowing too rapidly for Katagawa to make out what the older man was typing especially as the ringing in his ears got louder as he became more and more horrified. 

He continued to try and buck the older man off, furiously, until suddenly his limbs started to feel heavy and he slumped under the older man’s weight weakly. Rhys had...he’d done something to his neural port again, Katagawa thought, his mind still active though his body stopped responding to his commands. 

He blinked slowly, limbs slow, heart beating a mile a minute as the call to the mysterious Promethea number finally went though. 

“This better be good / creepy Maliwan stalker / I don’t have much time.” droned Zer0 the vault hunter’s calm electronic voice. 

Rhys had somehow managed to rig the audio out through his cybernetic arm’s speaker instead of the call playing in Katagawa’s head as usual. Katagawa‘s eye narrowed, raging inside at the sound of Zer0’s strange way of speaking, as well as the assertion he was some sort of common stalker. He tried to speak up to defend himself but found his tongue muscles too loose, a weak moan sounding from his throat instead.

“Oh my god, Zer0, thank god! This is actually Rhys! Is it ever good to hear your voice!” Rhys said urgently. 

Katagawa managed to tilt his head weakly, jealousy building at the statement despite the fact that Rhys had just betrayed him. 

“Nghhhh...Rhy’sss” he struggled to bite out with all his effort. 

“Look, I’m trapped down here on Pandora with Katagawa Jr, you  _ need _ to come get me!” 

“Rhys,” Zer0 replied, their voice somehow sounding kinder than before, despite its robotic tones.

“I should have known he had you. I have been searching since you did not return from the Jakobs meeting, but your tracker seemed to be malfunctioning by the time we noticed you were gone. Why are you calling from his frequency?” 

“It’s not really like that, well, sorta, he took me hostage on his ship, then it crashed, my ECHOeye got damaged so I couldn’t call you without plugging into his ECHOport, so...yeah, I need your help! Also,  _ please _ tell me Atlas isn’t in flames without me…” Rhys rambled.

“There is trouble here / Maliwan raided Atlas / While you went missing” Zer0 told the CEO seriously. 

“We thought it was Katagawa Jr at first, considering how much he kept trying to contact you before, but Maliwan has also reported him missing. Atlas has been invaded by Maliwan soldiers working with the COV, while the eldest son, Kaito Katagawa, is claiming they will take over Atlas by force. He are demanding to speak with you. I don’t think Maliwan realizes you are missing yet. Lorelei has rallied the troops to launch primary defences while I search for you.” 

Katagawa hissed, mind reeling by the news that had just been revealed. He had been right to think Kaito was behind this. He’d kill his brother, if he could just get free!

“Good thinking, both of you. And as for Katagawa... uh...I kinda hacked his cybernetics a little to make this call. I think he must know more about this than he first let on.” Rhys sighed, looking down at the glaring man below him and wincing at his furious expression. Katagawa growled, trying to shift again dizzily, but Rhys frowned, holding him firmly in place. 

“In that case Rhys / I will track your location / please stay put for me.” Zer0 said. 

“Thanks, will do, buddy, knew I could count on you and Lorelei to man the fort. You’re the best. Can’t see you, but I imagine you’re flashing me a sweet smiley emote right now,” Rhys grinned, though Zer0 could not see it. 

“Correct. Goodbye, Rhys.” Zer0 said, ending the transmission.

Rhys looked down at the man under him as the call ended, the grin falling off his face at the look the younger man was shooting him. 

“Okay, what do you know about all this, Katagawa?” Rhys demanded, “Was this kidnapping and crashing thing all part of your company’s plan to invade mine? You better start talking now!” 

Katagawa hissed, slurring as he struggled to make words. 

“I’m gonna give you motor control back, but you better tell me what’s up, Katagawa, and I’m not undoing your wrists…so don’t try anything funny.” Rhys said warily, waiting until the other man nodded at him slowly in agreement.

Rhys frowned, turning to the interface and typing away until Katagawa’s body felt less numb, the same ice cold water feeling from before washing over him. Katagawa blinked slowly, pretending the whole process took longer than it really did until Rhys appeared to relax a little, turning to reach for the pistol. 

Katagawa suddenly snarled, bucking up and flipping them until he was straddling Rhys before he could grab it, taking advantage of the older man’s surprise. He moved without thinking, slamming his bound hands forward, pinning Rhys’s neck to the floor and squeezing firmly until the older man wheezed, his anger and the element of surprise bolstering his strength. 

“Stop!” Rhys gasped, hands scrabbling at the younger man’s but Katagawa held firm, body on autopilot as his anger made him retreat into his own mind. 

_ He betrayed you your brother betrayed you everyone betrays you and leaves leaves leaves  _

Rhys’s eyes started to roll back from the lack of air as he scratched at Katagawa’s gloved hands desperately. 

“ _ Please _ ...” Rhys managed to choke out with the last of his breath. 

Katagawa blinked past the tumultuous roaring in his head, as if suddenly realizing he had almost killed the older man. 

Katagawa felt his grip go slack immediately, abruptly feeling terrified at the idea that he had hurt  _ Rhys _ . He’d almost killed  _ Rhys _ . 

“Fuck!” Katagawa yelled, letting up on his grip. He was furious, but he couldn’t make himself to do it. He just couldn’t...couldn’t kill  _ him _ . 

Rhys gasped for breath under him, shoving Katagawa off weakly and doing his best to put more distance between them. 

Katagawa let himself be maneuvered, eyes wide with shock as he watched the older man recover. His heart pounded, emotions cycling between shock, fear and anger faster than he could control.

Rhys crawled towards the gun in the corner of the room, pointing at the younger man with shaking hands.    
  
“F-Fucking start talking...now…or I shoot and wait for Zer0 alone.” Rhys said, voice rough.

Katagawa took a shaking breath, then another, then he started talking. 

“I didn’t capture you as part of that invasion, Rhys, you have to believe me.” Katagawa tried, eyeing the gun trained on his chest warily. “It was my brother...he, he fucking betrayed me and stole my plans! It wasn’t supposed to come to this, you and I were supposed to hash things out without resorting to this…” 

“What plans?” Rhys growled, glaring at the younger man. 

Katagawa huffed, looking to the side. Rhys snarled, putting his finger on the trigger. 

“W-Wait! Fuck. I planned to have you ...taken...so we could talk about the merger, I swear. My father asked me to attempt to acquire Atlas, and I was going to use this to gain his favour, but...but my siblings were... _ in the way _ of my success. I’m twelfth in line for CEO, and no matter what I did, they’d get the position before me. So I...I planned to have them all killed by the Calyspo Twins, heads of the COV. But, can’t you see? Kaito must’ve found out somehow! He  _ stole _ my plans, had us all killed! Now I’m stuck down here and he’s up there, doing everything  _ I _ was supposed to do! Trust me!” 

“Y-You’re...You’re fucking  _ insane _ , Katagawa. All this for power? And you just tried to kill me, so don’t blame me if I don’t really trust you at all right now!” Rhys said, eyes wide and shocked as he stared at the younger man. 

“No, well maybe it was about that at the beginning, but! I-I did it all for  _ us _ ! We were supposed to merge, like, like one happy family. We’d be together!” 

Katagawa looking down at his bound wrists, his eyes blurring with frustrated tears. He bit his lip to stop himself from crying out, glaring up with furious eyes. 

“I’ll  _ make _ you understand, Rhys!” Katagawa snarled. 

“Understand what?! Considering your family keeps trying to kill each other, I’d rather  _ not _ join if you don’t mind!” Rhys hissed.

“But, what about  _ us,  _ Rhys? You can’t say that! I... I love you!” Katagawa shouted desperately. 

“ _ Us _ ?  _ Love _ ? Look, we...we barely know each other…what we did together... that was just sex...I thought you knew that!” Rhys shot back, running his free hand through his own hair nervously. 

“ _ No _ ! You’re lying to me! You know it’s more than that! I know you feel something too!” Katagawa hissed in denial.

_ Rhys hates you _ .  _ Rhys hates you, your plans are ruined, you’re alone, you foolish, foolish stupid boy _ . 

Rhys exhaled, lowering the gun as he watched the younger man struggle to contain himself. 

“I’m sorry….I don’t know what to......this is... just so fucked up, Katagawa!” Rhys groaned. “I just need to get back to Atlas. Maliwan is invading us and that’s all I have time to worry about right now…let’s just wait for Zer0 to track us here...” 

_ No. No no no he’ll leave! Stop him! _

“Can you...can you please untie me…?” Katagawa hiccuped, eyes wide and imploring, as he tried to switch tactics. 

Rhys just stared at him for a while until he finally sighed, eyes softening as he reached forward to loosen the belt until Katagawa could slide his wrists free. 

Katagawa took the opportunity to dart forward to his discarded pants, reaching into the pocket and pulling out his folding knife. Maybe Katagawa was too weak to kill him ...but Rhys couldn’t leave if there was no way to track them here, Katagawa thought desperately as he brought the knife to his temple, digging the sharp end of the blade into his neural port.

“N-No, Rhys! Zer0 won’t find us! I’ll make sure of it!” Katagawa yelled, so frantic and angry he barely felt the pain of the knife. 

“Shit! What are you doing?” Rhys shouted, cybernetic arm reaching forward to shove the knife away. 

They struggled against each other until Rhys finally darted closer, using his metal arm to overpower and pulling the hysterical man into his arms. 

“ _ Kat _ , please  _ stop it! _ ” he cried. 

Katagawa froze at the familiar nickname, his grip on the knife loosening just enough for the older man to grab it and he threw it across the cave, far out of reach. 

“ _ Rhys _ !” Katagawa whined, trying to pull away as he broke into full sobs. His anger faded to utter anguish as the gravity of the situation fully dawned on him. 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Rhys mumbled, running a reluctant hand up the younger man’s back slowly, his other still an iron grip on Katagawa’s wrist. “Look...I’m...not going anywhere. We’re  _ both _ trapped down here, remember? Just breathe...I need you so Zer0 knows where to come rescue us, right? Please stop trying to hurt yourself.” 

Katagawa continued to weep, the shame of having broken down this badly in front of the older man twice already overwhelming on top of everything else that had just happened. He hated this, feeling  _ everything _ so  _ much _ all the time, swinging between emotions like a pendulum. He hated revealing how he really felt inside, the charming, controlled exterior shattering to reveal the sad, lonely man living underneath. 

It was humiliating, utterly exhausting, and he wished he could just stop  _ feeling _ , numb himself with drugs and rough sex like he usually did when his emotions were overwhelmingly too much. But he couldn’t. He was trapped down here with the man that was supposed to be the centre of his world who now wanted nothing to do with him, while his older sibling ruined all he had ever worked for back at home. 

“Just stop, Rhys.” he whispered shakily, struggling to silence his sobs so he could speak. “You don’t...you don’t have to  _ pretend _ you want me anymore. I...I won’t try and pull out my port. And Zer0 can come get you. That’s all you want, right?” 

“Kat...I’m sorry…” Rhys began, brows pulled together as he let Katagawa pull away and move to sit across from the fire. 

“It’s fine. I get it now...I’m fine, I don’t need your pity, Rhys.” Katagawa interrupted, voice monotone and eyes glassy as he stared into the weakening flames, finally feeling nothing but  _ numb _ .

He just felt empty. Without Rhys, without his plans for making CEO, he was  _ empty _ , Katagawa realized. 

_ You knew he didn’t really want you _ , the voice whispered to him, hours later as he watched Rhys sleep in the other corner of the cave. The older man clutched the stolen gun tightly as he slept. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to work in this on my phone as I don’t have access to my old computer at the moment, so apologies for any formatting issues.


End file.
